President Donald Trump shakes hands with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, before signing an Energy Independence Executive Order, Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at EPA headquarters in Washington. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais Members of a key Environmental Protection Agency advisory committee were told in a conference call on Wednesday that the Trump administration wants a "de-emphasis" on climate change across the agency, according to two people who were on the call.

Speaking to members of the Board of Scientific Counselors, EPA officials from the Office of Research Development said that "climate change will be de-emphasized by the administration," according to Peter Meyer, who resigned from one of BOSC's five subcommittees in May.

The 30-minute conference call — led by Robert Kavlock, acting assistant administrator of the ORD — largely focused on praising members of the key scientific review board and encouraging non-renewed members to reapply for their seats, according to Meyer and Elena Craft, a member of one of BOSC's five subcommittees. Both were on the call.

BOSC members serve three-year terms that are typically renewed due to lengthy assignments. All members who were due for renewal were informed Monday that they will not be renewed. The board advises the ORD and is tasked with reviewing and evaluating the EPA's science. Its advice is used by the agency to create regulations on air pollution, clean water and other environmental issues.

Meyer perceived the repeated calls for members to reapply as an attempt to "undo the damage not renewing did," and both Meyer and Craft said that they were told that administrator Scott Pruitt's EPA is looking to add representatives of industries regulated by the agency to BOSC — apparently confirming concerns that the administration will use a "political litmus test" to choose new board members.

"That's obviously the fear that a lot of people might have just because this is a fairly aggressive move in terms of essentially overhauling an entire system," said Craft, whose term was not renewed. "This is a robust scientific brain trust arm of the EPA that's been totally decimated."

An EPA spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday's conference call, but said in an email statement that the agency has "made it very clear that we are focused on getting back to the agency’s core mission of protecting clean air, land, and water.”

EPA's Pruitt takes questions about the Trump administration's withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris climate accords during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington Thomson Reuters The EPA informed BOSC members in an email on Monday evening that no current advisers whose terms are expiring will be renewed in a shakeup of the key review board tasked with evaluating the agency's science and helping set its regulatory agenda.

Members were also informed that all 2017 BOSC meetings would be canceled.