SACRAMENTO, CA — Five of the nine members on a panel that reviews chemicals and makes recommendations to the state have been dismissed. Those that have been hoping to see turnover on the panel, say it's a matter of putting in fresh eyes, while others feel the sudden changes are a result of pressure from industrial interests and will harm the panel's credibility and effectiveness.

The Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants evaluates reports and scientific data on substances that the state Air Resources Board (ARB), Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and Department of Pesticide Regulation propose as possible toxic air contaminants. The ARB set standards and regulations for emissions and substances that can affect air quality.

Since July, five panel members have been dismissed and replaced, including John Froines, who has been the panel chairman since 1998 and is head of the UCLA School of Public Health's Department of Environmental Health Sciences.

The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a libertarian nonprofit that wanted to see some of the panel members removed, welcomed the changes, and says that the replacements came about with the help of a lawsuit it filed last year. The lawsuit stemmed from a 1998 decision by the ARB that labeled diesel emissions as a threat to humans and the environment, based on a determination by the panel. The ARB started creating emissions regulations that the PLF says threaten the state's trucking and construction industries.

After finding out that many of the panel's members have been in their seats for more than three years - a term on the panel is three years, but panel members can be reappointed - the PLF filed suit in the state court challenging the length of time panel members have been around. 

Panel members are picked from a list provided by the UC Office of the President. Five are chosen by the Secretary for Environmental Protection, two are chosen by the Senate Committee on Rules and two are chosen by the Speaker of the Assembly.

Investigative journalism group California Watch reports that the dismissed panel members had been previously appointed by the Speaker and the California Environmental Protection Agency, both of which said that the dismissed members' terms were up and that they were not on the list of approved panel members. California Watch notes:

Most recently, Froines and other members of the panel made enemies in the chemical industry when they publicly criticized the California Department of Pesticide Regulation for its plans to approve a strawberry fumigant called methyl iodide, which the scientists said would endanger farm workers.

In speaking with current panel members, California Watch found that such a sweeping change in the panel's makeup had never happened before. "I think this will cripple the committee, certainly in the short term," current panel member Paul Blanc told California Watch.

_{Trucks - CC license by Flickr user Andrew Atzert}