OVERNIGHT ENERGY: EPA announces new clean air advisors after firing Trump appointees | Senate confirms Biden pick for No. 2 role at Interior | Watchdog: Bureau of Land Management saw messaging failures, understaffing during pandemic

HAPPY THURSDAY! Welcome to Overnight Energy, your source for the day’s energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Rachel Frazin at rfrazin@thehill.com . Follow her on Twitter: @RachelFrazin . Reach Zack Budryk at zbudryk@thehill.com or follow him at @BudrykZack .

Today we’re looking at the EPA’s reconstituted Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, confirmations of Interior and NOAA officials and a report on the pandemic’s impacts on the Bureau of Land Management.

AFTER THE CASAC SACKINGS (CASACKINGS?): EPA announces new clean air advisors after firing Trump appointees

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new members of a clean air advisory group after taking the unusual step of dismissing the panel’s prior members, who were appointed under the Trump administration.

In a statement, the agency announced the seven members of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), which provides independent advice on technical aspects of air quality standards.

Guess who’s back, back again. Two of the members are Trump appointees who returned to the committee after being dismissed by Administrator Michael ReganMichael Regan EPA to reconsider Trump decision not to tighten soot air quality standards GM asks for flexibility in meeting emissions target EPA to revise Trump rollback to water pollution protections MORE earlier this year.

James Boylan works in air protection at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Mark Frampton is a professor emeritus in pulmonary and critical care at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Some backstory: Other Trump administration committee picks came under scrutiny for industry ties.

FIRMLY CONFIRMED: Senate confirms Interior No. 2, NOAA administrator

Like a pencil, he’s No. 2: The Senate confirmed President BidenJoe Biden Japan to possibly ease COVID-19 restrictions before Olympics 14 Republicans vote against making Juneteenth a federal holiday China supplies millions of vaccine doses to developing nations in Asia MORE’s pick for the No. 2 role at the Interior Department on Thursday with broad bipartisan support, but opposition from one progressive and a handful of Republicans.

Senators voted 88-9 to confirm Tommy Beaudreau as deputy Interior Secretary, with eight Republicans and Sen. Bernie SandersBernie Sanders Sanders opposes Biden Interior nominee in procedural vote Briahna Joy Gray on how Sanders changed the healthcare conversation Sanders ‘delighted’ DeSantis asked White House to import Canadian prescription drugs MORE (I-Vt.) opposing the nomination.

The progressive didn’t want the nomination to progress…Sanders’s office told The Hill that the senator voted against Beaudreau because of his ties to oil companies.

Beaudreau has come under criticism from progressive groups for working with companies like French oil giant Total.

President Biden nominated Beaudreau after pulling back his previous nominee, Elizabeth Klein, amid reported opposition from Senate moderates.

I NOAA guy: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Thursday got a Senate-confirmed leader for the first time since 2017.

The Senate approved Richard Spinrad’s nomination to lead the oceans and weather agency by a voice vote, signaling that his nomination was noncontroversial.

In addition to leading NOAA, Spinrad will also serve as the Commerce Department’s undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere.

MANAGING IT: Watchdog: Bureau of Land Management saw messaging failures, understaffing during pandemic

Keeping the majority of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sites open during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 resulted in “harmful consequences” including vandalism and damages to restrooms, according to a report issued this week by an Interior Department watchdog.

Faced with the Trump administration’s insistence that most BLM sites remain open, state and field offices said officials at the bureau’s headquarters were slow to provide full guidance, and that public messaging about the coronavirus pandemic was also frequently delayed.

“For instance, one State office employee noted that guidance from BLM headquarters or the U.S. Department of the Interior was usually received after State-developed guidance was available,” the report stated. “This employee also commented that the State office created its own guidance instead of waiting for direction from BLM headquarters or the Department.”