ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20100
No(s). 19-5104 (D.C. Cir. Apr 21, 2020)

The D.C. Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of a challenge by scientific advocacy groups to EPA's directive barring recipients of EPA grants from serving on any of the Agency's advisory committees. The groups argued that the directive lacked a reasoned explanation for changing its policy, and that it was procedurally flawed because EPA failed to submit it to the Office of Government Ethics for approval. The district court granted EPA's motion to dismiss, concluding that the directive was committed to agency discretion by law, and even if subject to APA review, was neither arbitrary nor capricious. On appeal, the court found that the directive was judicially reviewable, and that its failure to provide a reasoned explanation for the policy change was arbitrary and capricious. It therefore reversed the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings.