A former chemical industry executive who fought tougher regulations under the first Trump administration is returning to key roles at the Environmental Protection Agency, two people familiar with the appointment said, raising concerns about corporate influence over chemical safety regulations.

Nancy B. Beck, a toxicologist and former executive director at the American Chemistry Council, the industry’s main trade group, is set to resume a role helping oversee chemical policy similar to the one she held from 2017 to 2021, though her exact title and scope deal has yet to be determined, the people said. The Chemistry Council represents dozens of chemical companies and large manufacturers.

dr. Beck is credited with leading a sweeping pushback on chemical regulations during the first Trump administration, as well as what a subsequent internal investigation described as political interference in agency science and policy making. She rewrote the rulesfor example, it made it difficult to monitor the health consequences of the cancer-related “forever chemical” and thus to regulate it.

It also helped reduce proposed bans on other substances such as asbestos and methylene chloridea harmful chemical found in paint thinners. Neither the EPA nor dr. Beck did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Hunton Andrews Kurth, a law firm where dr. Beck, who most recently served as director of regulatory science, said she is no longer with the company. dr. Beck is listed in the EPA personnel directory as a political appointee.

It is expected that dr. Beck will be joined by Lynn Ann Dekleva, who also worked for the American Chemistry Council, who is expected to return to a role helping oversee new chemicals as deputy assistant administrator, though her title could still change, the people said. An environmental engineer by training, her career in the chemical industry includes more than three decades at DuPont, the chemical giant.

Recent reports published by the EPA Office of the Inspector General he said that, under dr. Allegedly, employees were forced to approve new chemicals based on less stringent evaluations and were retaliated against if they raised concerns.

dr. Dekleva did not respond to requests for comment.

Chris Jahn, executive director of the American Chemistry Council, said in a statement that the group looks forward to “working with all EPA staff in support of good science” and policies to strengthen American competitiveness and create jobs.

For the appointment of dr. Beck and Dr. Dekleve to advisory or deputy positions at the agency is not expected to require congressional approval. dr. Beck previously failed to win congressional approval to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2020, after Democrats and environmental groups he accused her of using her previous government positions to promote the chemical industry’s agenda.

“Nancy Beck, the EPA’s ‘toxics empress’ during the first Trump administration, is back to fulfill the chemical industry’s wish list,” said Daniel Rosenberg, director of federal toxics policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. “Weakening of health protection” from toxic chemicals “is just around the corner,” he said.

Over the past four years, the Biden administration has tried to catch up on the regulation of the most dangerous chemicals on the market, as required by law which was strengthened in 2016.

The Biden administration has proposed or finalized the restrictions on 10 dangerous chemicals, including trichlorethylenea chemical used in cleaners and lubricants has also been linked to cancer as well asbestosa heat and fire resistant mineral widely used in building materials that can cause cancer and lung disease. Currently, more than 80,000 chemicals on the market are not subject to environmental testing or regulation.

The Biden administration also set the first federal standards for PFAS in drinking waterand labeled two types PFAS as hazardous substances under a law that shifts responsibility for cleaning up toxic sites from taxpayers to industry.

The chemical industry has asked the Trump administration to roll back many of those rules. IN letter to Mr. Trump last month, a coalition of industry groups, including the Chemistry Council, called for a reversal of what they called the “unscientific, sledgehammer approach” to the Biden administration’s chemical policy.

In the letter, the industry groups are specifically asking the Trump administration to reconsider the PFAS standards for drinking water and the labeling of two PFAS chemicals as hazardous. They are also pressing the EPA to speed up its review of new chemicals and to roll back its efforts to impose new regulations on existing chemicals, something chemical companies say is causing “confusion, duplication and overregulation.”