Nature Editors, “How to Rebuild the US Environmental Protection Agency”

This Nature editorial reviews the long attack, exacerbated by the Trump administration, on the EPA under the guise of economic growth. The authors argue for a return to science, competent leadership, and the construction of an administrative structure that can and will exist in perpetuity. To do so, President Biden must 1) strengthen the agency’s existing structure to prevent any future administrations from strangling science-based evidence and policy; 2) rebuild the EPA’s in-house science team, filling and strengthening positions such as the assistant administrator for the EPA’s research division (the Office of Research and Development), a separate chief scientist for the agency, and the scientific-integrity official; 3) structure staffing to promote honesty and transparency over obedience; 4) appoint competent staff in the White House Office of Science and Technology to oversee scientific integrity across federal agencies; 4) insulate the agency by codifying scientific integrity in congressional policy through legislation; and 5) appoint a competent, visionary, and dedicated EPA administrator to lead the EPA according to a long-term mission of environmental protection.