The removal of these tools violated the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the suit alleges. — Bloomberg
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is facing a legal challenge over removing multiple tools for mapping climate, pollution and other overlapping risks facing the American public, particularly disadvantaged communities, from federal websites.
In a suit filed Monday in Washington, DC federal court, the Sierra Club and three other environmental groups accused the Trump administration of removing these climate and environmental justice web resources used by the public, academia, green groups and government officials to guide policy making and community planning, among other tasks.
The removal of these tools violated the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the suit alleges.
“These tools are tax-payer funded and the government has a responsibility to make this information available to the public,” said Darya Minovi, a senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit.
In an e-mailed statement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a spokesperson wrote: “In keeping with a longstanding practice, EPA does not comment on pending litigation.”
The other agencies named in the lawsuit, including the departments of energy and transportation, did not initially respond to requests for comment. The council for environmental quality, also named in the suit, did not immediately respond.
Within weeks of President Donald Trump taking office, his administration removed the EPA’s EJScreen, an interactive mapping tool with local demographic, pollution and environmental justice data. — Bloomberg
