"Environmental groups want Board of Environmental Safety member Rhys Williams to resign over ties to a lobbying firm — the latest Newsom aide to land a plum state board seat. Legal experts say his appointment isn’t illegal — but one ethics scholar says it raises a much bigger question about public trust." The board decides appeals involving hazardous waste facilities permitted by the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Lawmakers created the board in 2021 to strengthen oversight of the department, increase transparency, and give communities disproportionately burdened by hazardous waste a stronger voice. In a letter addressed to Williams and copied to the board and the department, environmental groups expressed concerns with Williams’ work for a lobbying firm, Axiom Advisors.