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EPA officials met several times with MAHA activists in

December

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Officials showed openness to concerns, a change from prior

meetings

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Meetings show MAHA's growing influence on Trump

administration

By Leah Douglas

WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Top officials of the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency held at least six meetings this

month with members of the Make America Healthy Again movement as

agency head Lee Zeldin pledges to more closely align with the

movement's agenda, according to four people who attended the

meetings.

The meetings show the growing influence of MAHA, a network of

activists seeking vaccine restrictions and reduced chemical

exposure, on the administration of ‌President Donald Trump. The

movement has already held sway at the Department of Health and

Human Services, where MAHA-aligned Health Secretary Robert F.

Kennedy Jr. has implemented MAHA priorities, including curbing

childhood vaccines.

The movement has gained influence and access to ​policymakers

because of its Trump administration backers, and represents

growing interest by conservatives in some issues once mostly

taken up in the U.S. by Democrats, such as restricting

pesticides.

Zeldin ‍and top EPA officials met with MAHA members to

discuss pesticide and chemical exposure policy, according to the

attendees, who ⁠described Zeldin and the agency officials as

friendly ⁠and open to their concerns.

MAHA TRIED TO OUST EPA HEAD

The meetings come after MAHA led a petition to oust Zeldin from

the agency, citing his approval of new pesticides, the

appointment of former chemical industry lobbyists ‌to top posts,

and the weakening of some chemical standards. The petition

garnered thousands of signatures ​before the meetings.

"What it seemed to us was that administrator Zeldin wasn't

doing his part," said Kelly Ryerson, the co-executive director

and co-founder of the MAHA-aligned group American Regeneration.

"It had only been bad news coming out of the EPA."

Ryerson said she participated in three ⁠meetings with the EPA

this month after the petition gained traction.

EPA press secretary Brigit ‍Hirsch confirmed that Zeldin ​and

his political staff have met with MAHA activists.

"The Trump EPA wants to partner with the MAHA community and

make sure everyone has a seat at the table," she said.

While it is common for federal agencies to meet with various

lobbying groups, it is unusual for them to ‍publicly endorse such

groups.

EPA ONCE DISMISSIVE, NOW FRIENDLY

Zeldin and nearly a dozen of his senior staff met with

several MAHA activists on December 9, the day after he attended

a holiday party hosted by the policy group MAHA Action,

according to Reuters interviews with three attendees.

EPA attendees included the agency's agriculture and water

division heads, its general counsel and Zeldin's deputy chief of

staff, said Ryerson and Alexandra Muñoz, a toxicologist and MAHA

activist who also attended.

Ryerson, Muñoz and other MAHA activists told Zeldin he should

curb pesticide use, including the herbicide glyphosate, marketed

by Bayer as Roundup and the subject of thousands of

lawsuits alleging it causes cancer. They also expressed concern

about some of the ​agency's deregulatory actions, ‍such as rolling

back rulemaking aimed at protecting people from "forever

chemicals" in drinking water.

Ryerson said she had two more meetings with the EPA later

that week, one with the agency's agriculture team and another

with Douglas Troutman, the agency's assistant administrator for

its Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, ​which

oversees pesticide regulations.

The officials were friendly and open to their ideas, Muñoz

said. That was a change from an October meeting she had had with

some of the same officials, when they had seemed dismissive and

disinterested, she said.

Courtney Swan, another MAHA activist, said EPA staff she met

with during the week of December 15 were receptive and curious

about her concerns about chemical uses in the food supply.

"There seemed to be a bit of an olive branch there," she

said.

EPA 'MAHA AGENDA' UNDER WAY

Zeldin said on a December 10 MAHA Action webinar that the

EPA is finalizing a "MAHA agenda" for the agency to address

issues such as lead pipes, plastics and food waste.

He said the agency sought to incorporate feedback from MAHA

and that anyone attending the ​webinar could reach out to

participate in shaping the agenda.

The agency sidestepped an opportunity this year to take a

tougher stance on pesticides when a multi-agency MAHA

commission, led by Kennedy, in September released its

strategy for improving childhood health.

An earlier report from the commission had pointed to pesticides

as a potential health risk, which triggered criticism from the

farm industry and led the White House to meet with farm and food

lobby ‍groups.

The final report was less critical of pesticides and noted

that the EPA had confidence in its pesticide review process.