The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to shut down its Office of the Science Advisor.

The position was created to give what is typically a politician, like the EPA administrator, easy access to scientific advice.

Michael Halpern is the deputy director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy organization. He said said scientists formerly working in the office will be left out of key decisions by top policymakers.

“That kind of advice is important both for long-term policy decisions that the agency makes as well as for reacting during a crisis like when a hurricane like Florence causes toxic releases in North Carolina or wildfires sweep across the West,” Halpern said.

But, EPA spokesman John Konkus told the New York Times the move merely “combines offices with similar functions (and) eliminates redundancies.”