Trump Puts Industry Insiders in Charge of Overseeing Chemical Safety
The Trump administration has appointed two industry insiders to oversee chemical regulations, amid a broader Republican push to speed up an approval process they say has held up innovation and economic growth.
Two veterans of Trump’s first administration, Nancy Beck and Lynn Dekleva, were named to help lead regulation of chemicals at the Environmental Protection Agency, the agency confirmed in an email. The appointments were first reported by the New York Times.
Beck is known for fighting strict chemical regulations and aligning policy with industry interests. She is returning to the agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, according to an internal agency announcement reviewed by The Washington Post.
The move has many environmental groups concerned that major chemical safety regulations, enacted to protect human health, could be back on the chopping block.
Republicans on the House Energy Committee’s environment subcommittee on Wednesday criticized the actions taken by the EPA under the Biden administration, specifically taking aim at a 2016 law that revised the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. Republican committee members in a hearing said the 2016 law, as implemented by Biden, was failing to approve chemicals in a timely manner, holding back economic growth and job creation.
“Unfortunately it’s still not working,” Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky) said. “The EPA’s flawed decision-making process has consequently inhibited American innovation and our ability to compete in the global market.”
Democrats on the subcommittee said Biden’s implementation of the act meant Americans are better protected against being poisoned, citing stronger regulation of substances such as methylene chloride in paint stripper that has historically killed dozens of Americans.
Industry representatives at the hearing blasted the current interpretation of the law.
“Unfortunately the new chemical program at EPA is broken,” testified Chris Jahn, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, a trade group.
Jahn said the EPA consistently missed the 90-day deadline to determine if a new chemical should be approved, hindering innovation.
Dimitri Karakitsos, a public policy lawyer at Holland & Knight, said the system often takes far longer than the timetable the law sets out.
“There are chemicals that have been sitting out there for two to three years; in some cases you’re not missing approving chemicals by just a week or two, it’s considerably longer,” said Karakitsos, who worked on the 2016 update to the Toxic Substances Control Act as senior counsel on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
“A lot of these new chemicals tend to be greener and safer, and we want that innovation on the market,” he said.
Karakitsos said Beck’s appointment was no surprise given the desire to have regulators who have a technical background, with experience in industry and the EPA.
Beck, a toxicologist and former executive with the American Chemistry Council, worked as a deputy within the EPA’s toxic chemical unit. By the end of her tenure in 2021, she had moved to the White House but still played a role in chemicals policy.
Beck’s career at the EPA was marked by a push to reverse proposed bans on chemicals such as TCE, a solvent linked to numerous cancers and neurological disorders, and asbestos, a cancer-causing material. Under her leadership, the chemicals office redefined the way the EPA determined the health and safety risks associated with hazardous chemicals. Beck directed a request for comment to the EPA press office.
Beck will be joined by Dekleva, who also previously worked for the American Chemistry Council and DuPont and will serve as the deputy assistant administrator. Dekleva did not respond to a request for comment.
Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the appointment of Beck and Dekleva means a return to the first Trump administration.
“The bottom line is that EPA’s Office of Chemicals and Pesticides has been captured by industry and having Dr. Dekleva in charge of anything having to do with that is not only a conflict of interest, but a scary prospect for the American public,” said Bennett, who compared the appointments with “a fox watching the chicken coop.”
The Trump administration and Republican congressional representatives say they aim to boost efficiency in the approval of chemicals that will speed American innovation and lead to economic growth.
“EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention is committed to protecting human health and the environment while following statutes as enacted by Congress,” an EPA spokesperson said in a statement. “The office will be focusing on process improvements and efficiencies to ensure that chemicals are reviewed in a timely manner.”
To Eve Gartner, the director of crosscutting toxics strategies at Earthjustice, Beck’s appointment is “a huge win for the chemical industry.”
There has been no confirmation of who will lead the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, a role that requires congressional approval. Beck was previously nominated to be the chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. During her appointment hearings in 2020, senators on both sides of the aisle grilled her about her record on toxic chemicals. Her nomination was never voted on by Congress, and she did not become chair.
Jahn, of the American Chemistry Council, said in a statement that the group and its member companies “look forward to working with all EPA staff in support of sound science and risk-based policy solutions that allow America’s chemical manufacturers to address the growing demand for advanced chemical production” while creating jobs and uplifting the country’s manufacturing globally.
Under the Biden administration, the agency banned TCE and perc, a toxic solvent used in dry cleaning, while expanding regulation to ban asbestos and enacting protections against PFAS, which are often called “forever chemicals.”
Karakitsos and another industry lobbyist said the Biden administration had put too much weight on whether a chemical was hazardous and not enough on whether people were really being exposed. They said industry would prefer stable regulation rather than swinging from one extreme to the other.
Environmental groups worry that plans to regulate chemicals that were recently finalized under the Biden administration will be withdrawn and weakened, said Daniel Rosenberg, a senior attorney and director of federal toxics policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“She’s not there to ban toxic chemicals, that’s for sure,” Rosenberg said.