These decisions do not promote agency efficiency – they allow corporations and polluters to more easily ignore regulations that are inconvenient to their bottom line. And in the end, the harm will be foisted upon the American public.

The EPA is also proposing to roll back limits on dangerous “forever chemicals” in our drinking water. Once again, the agency is denying its own scientific conclusions, this time on the harms of PFAS exposure.

We’re already seeing it with EPA’s recent rollback on ethylene oxide emissions standards from sterilizer facilities. After years of defending its IRIS assessment, the agency has changed course – a move that is not based on the best available science.

The result? An agency deliberately stripped of its capacity to protect children, families, and workers from exposure to toxic chemicals.

We are witnessing the EPA implement the chemical industry’s playbook. For years, industry groups have sought to kill the IRIS program, including introducing legislation that would block EPA from relying on IRIS assessments in decision-making.

Now, a leaked memo from EPA leadership shows that the agency is undermining the validity of the program’s 500+ chemical assessments – assessments that underpin many of our nation’s clean air, water, and soil regulations.

ORD housed numerous programs that supported scientific research across the agency –including the Integrated Risk Information System program (IRIS), which played a critical role in safeguarding Americans from everyday exposure to pollution and toxic chemicals.

In February, after nearly a year of undermining EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD)—the agency’s independent science hub—EPA leadership moved to finally terminate the office altogether.

4/ Show your support for the Scientific Integrity Act and thank Sen. @brianschatz.bsky.social for introducing it:

3/ The Scientific Integrity Act is more important than ever in light of the Trump administration’s 562 (and counting) attacks on science—attacks that undermine medical research, weather monitoring and air-quality protections we all depend on.

2/ The bill would require federal agencies to create and enforce scientific integrity policies that protect science from political interference. It’s a vital step to defend the science that keeps us safe, healthy and prosperous.

1/ NEW: The Scientific Integrity Act has been re-introduced in the US Senate. This is an important step toward advancing this bill. Learn more: act.ucsusa.org/4dtzoSU #ScientificIntegrity

4/ These exemptions, made at the whim of the White House, will relieve polluters of their legal obligations and expose people in their communities to dangerous chemicals like lead, sulfur dioxide, and ethylene oxide. Learn more here:

3/ @propublica.org acquired over 3000 pages of these exemption request emails through a Freedom of Information Act request. Trump’s EPA approved at least 180 exemptions, neglecting to cite evidence, justification, or analysis.

2/ These exemptions were issued with no public input. Industrial operators and companies were simply invited to send an email to EPA to receive a compliance exemption through a Clean Air Act provision that is reserved for national emergencies.

1/ In March 2025, Trump’s EPA set up a process for polluters to request exemptions from their Clean Air Act responsibilities. Our team at UCS published a map providing information on exemption-eligible facilities, host communities, existing pollution, and nearby schools and day cares. (🧵)

3/ The Trump administration’s refusal to allow these studies to be published is part of a pattern of spreading disinformation, suppressing scientific reports, firing experts and cutting funding to reduce government support for vaccines.

2/ Censoring research because political leaders disagree with the conclusions is a clear attack on science. The Trump administration is responsible for more than 560 attacks on science since January of 2025.

1/ Political appointees at the FDA censored federal scientists by refusing to allow the publication of multiple studies showing that COVID and shingles vaccines are safe and effective. (🧵)

1/ Last Friday, the EPA announced its new members of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) - a group whose guidance shapes environmental rules and policy decisions concerning air quality, water pollution, and pesticides. That’s why some of these Trump appointees should give you pause...🧵👇

Join us at 3pm ET today!

EPA is proposing to deregulate the highly toxic air pollutant, Ethylene Oxide, at sterilizer facilities. Want to take action? Our April 28 workshop with @envirodgi.bsky.social will help you write a public comment on this dangerous proposal. Register to make your voice heard:

We’ve documented more than 560 attacks on science by the Trump administration since January 2025. Read more in @jbd-phd.bsky.social latest blog here:

UCS President @gretchentg.bsky.social, who started her career in ORD, describes what is lost by this program being dismantled.

Newly uncovered internal documents state that this new office’s research and priorities must have prior approval by political leadership – a never-before-used requirement and major red flag that paves the way for political interference in EPA’s scientific research.

The newly established “Office of Applied Science and Environmental Science” will have significantly fewer staff than the former Office of Research and Development, as many of those staff scientists were moved to other EPA offices or pushed out of the agency altogether.

One year after EPA announced it would dismantle its independent science office, the agency is requiring political leadership approval over research and priorities. 🧵⬇️

Thanks for telling this story!

EPA also removed a tool from its website that provides communities and first responders with critical information about hazardous chemicals handled in neighborhood facilities after industry groups told the agency to take it down. Some of that data has been salvaged rmpmap.org but can't be updated.

Join us on Monday!

These are only a few examples of how the Trump admin has sidelined and undercut science in US federal health agencies. We need leaders who advocate for public health policy grounded in medical expertise, data, and evidence, not conspiracy theories and anti-science rhetoric. RFK must go.

Under RFK, HHS has advanced fringe anti-vaxx positions at the expense of public health. HHS has changed science-informed vaccination schedules, gutted funding to test vaccine effectiveness, and stacked the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with anti-vaxx advocates.

The department tasked with protecting the health of the public is instead putting them at greater risk. And we’re not just talking about the US experiencing the biggest outbreak of measles–alongside vaccination declines–this century.

“HHS should be led by professionals who respect science and data, listen to doctors, and put patients first. Not by rhetoric, not by conspiracy, and not by ignoring established medical facts,” said Rep. Thompson. Read @dminovi.bsky.social's blog and learn why we agree with him:

HHS Secretary Kennedy’s testimony to Congress today made clear yet again that he is unfit to lead HHS—and his anti-science policies are putting people in danger. ⬇️🧵 @mikethompson.house.gov laid it bare. WATCH:

It’s National Public Health Week, and this year’s theme is Ready. Set. Action! Check out these resources from @apha.org with ways to celebrate, elevate, and contribute your work!

Join us on April 20!

"Today I'm not alone I carry with me my family, mentors and ancestors. EPA's proposal erodes the work done by previous generations. We are united as we face another moment when protections from our communities are taken away" Nalleli Hidalgo @tejasbarrios.bsky.social

"Hurricanes, wildfires, floods and extreme heat are becoming more intense - we've seen entire communities evacuated because a plant wasn't ready. Removing the requirement for natural hazard assessment is not common sense - it's wishful thinking."

"Workers shouldn't have to beg their employers to consider safer alternatives- that should be the baseline expectation."

"For those who don't live this job every day let me explain - stop work authority saves lives. When something goes wrong, workers need to stop the job immediately. Taking away stop work authority tells us that production matters more than people. " Dawn Anderoli @uswmetallos.bsky.social

"I represent an area with the highest concentration of hazardous material sites on the West coast. There are 5 refineries in this area. "I've been to funerals of building trades workers in my district." East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier.

The broader public will be paying for this proposal" with unclean air and water, the health impacts of chemical disasters, while industry pays less.

"The proposal undoes requirements that empower workers to prevent disasters before they occur, by no longer granting stop-work-authority."

"This is just the latest example of how this administration will put industry profit over the safety of workers, communities and first responders." Rep. Paul Tonko

"In Process Safety, the lack of perfect data does not mean something doesn't work. Prevention is hard to measure because when it works, nothing happens. That's the point. The rule should focus on safety, not saving companies money."

We oppose rolling back requirements for third-party audits - it's like asking people to grade their own homework. These accidents are not just numbers on the charts - they could cost lives. Phillip Stagg @uswmetallos.bsky.social

"We are here today – just days after an explosion at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, Texas – because the EPA has proposed to roll back rules that protect the health and safety of workers, first responders, and fenceline communities from chemical disasters" @ucs.org @dminovi.bsky.social

Join us TODAY to hear from affected workers and community members on why EPA's proposal to roll back protections from hazardous facilities will lead to more chemical disasters, workers injuries, and toxic releases. www.mobilize.us/lcv/event/92...

8/ UCS and our partners have worked hard to expand the public’s opportunity to engage in this rulemaking, even as the Trump administration has tried to reduce public input in rulemaking. After we submitted a letter to EPA, the agency will extend comment period. Submit your comments by May 11: