Two chemical-industry officials are expected to help oversee the EPA’s chemical regulations

A former chemical-industry executive who fought tougher regulations in the first Trump administration is returning to a key role at the Environmental Protection Agency, two people familiar with the appointment said, adding that it will increase corporate influence over chemical safety regulations.

Nancy B. Beck, a toxicologist and former executive director of the American Chemistry Council, the industry’s main trade group, is set to return to the same role she held to help oversee chemical policy from 2017 to 2021, though the exact title and scope of the job have yet to be determined, the people said. The Chemistry Council represents dozens of chemical companies and major manufacturers.

Dr. Beck led a broad push against chemical regulations during the first Trump administration, as well as what a subsequent internal investigation described as political interference in the agency’s science and policy. For example, she rewrote laws that made it difficult to track the health consequences of “chemicals forever” linked to cancer.

She also helped push back proposed bans on other ingredients like asbestos and methylene chloride, a harmful chemical found in paint thinners. Neither EPM nor Dr. Beck responded to requests for comment for this article.

Law firm Hunton Andrews Curt, where Dr. Beck most recently served as director of regulatory science, said she is no longer with the firm. Dr. Beck is listed in the EPA personnel directory as a political appointee.

Dr. Beck is expected to be joined by Lynn Ann DeCleva, formerly of the American Chemistry Council. . An environmental engineer by training, her career in the chemical industry includes more than three decades at DuPont, the chemicals giant.

Latest reports Released by the EPA Office of the Inspector General Under Dr. DeCleva, his staff were pushed to approve new chemicals based on scant reviews and were retaliated against if they raised concerns, he said.

Dr. DeCleva did not respond to requests for comment.

American Chemistry Council CEO Chris Jahn said in a statement that the group “looks forward to working with all EPA employees to support sound science” and policy to strengthen America’s competitiveness and create jobs.

The appointments of Dr. Beck and Dr. DeCleva to consultant or deputy roles at the agency are not subject to congressional approval. Dr. Beck previously failed to win congressional approval to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2020, with Democrats and environmental groups accusing her of using former government positions to advance the chemical industry’s agenda.

“During the first Trump administration, the EPA’s ‘toxics czar’ Nancy Beck is back to cater to the needs of the chemical industry,” said Daniel Rosenberg, director of federal toxics policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. “Weakening of health protections” from toxic chemicals is just around the corner.

Over the past four years, the Biden administration has tried to regulate the most dangerous chemicals on the market, as required by a 2016 sweeping law.

The Biden administration has proposed or completed restrictions On 10 dangerous chemicalsThese include trichloroethylene, a chemical used in cleaning and lubricants that has been linked to cancer, as well as asbestos, a heat- and fire-resistant mineral widely used in building materials that causes cancer and lung disease. Currently, more than 80,000 chemicals on the market are not subject to environmental testing or control.

The Biden administration has set federal standards for PFAS in drinking water for the first time and has designated two types of PFAS as hazardous substances under legislation that shifts responsibility for cleaning up toxic sites from taxpayers to industry.

The chemical industry has called on the Trump administration to roll back many of the regulations. in A letter to Mr. Trump Last month, a coalition of industry groups, including the Chemistry Council, called on the Biden administration to reverse what they called an “unscientific, sledgehammer approach” to chemical policy.

In the letter, industry groups specifically called on the Trump administration to revisit the PFAS drinking water standards and the designation of the two PFAS chemicals as hazardous. He also said the EPA is creating “confusion, duplication and overregulation” to set back its efforts to review new chemicals and set new regulations on existing chemicals.