The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put more than 170 of its employees on leave. These employees signed a complaint expressing their opposition to recent agency policy actions. Another 100 employees were said to have signed the letter without naming themselves out of concern for retribution, the report stated. The move underscores deepening rifts inside the embattled agency, especially amid a slew of recent reorders orchestrated at EPA Administrator Lee Zeldon’s direction.
In the last two weeks, the EPA has notified these employees that they will be in a “temporary, non-duty, paid status.” This move follows the agency’s decision to initiate an “administrative investigation.” In another example, House Republican Zeldin is moving to reshape the EPA’s office of research and development. This approach is designed to further cut the agency’s already-reduced budget and undermine its ability to address climate change and promote environmental justice.
Zeldin’s administration has already come under fire for slashing funding meant to improve environmental conditions in predominantly minority neighborhoods. Earlier this year, the EPA proposed to remove that ban on one type of asbestos. On top of that, they’re trying to roll back rules that would limit greenhouse gas emissions coming from new and existing coal and natural gas-fired power plants. These moves have caused concern for the EPA workforce and environmental activists alike.
One of the signers of the dissenting document is Jeremy Berg, the former editor in chief of Science magazine. Berg is not an EPA employee, but he has certainly graduated to joining the ranks of many non-EPA scientists and academics. Collectively, they are raising alarms about the agency’s march into unknown territory.
The rare backlash from within the federal agency foreshadows the depth of discontent among Zeldin’s leadership and his hostile reorganization effort. Critics contend that these revisions endanger the transparency, accountability and overarching mission of the EPA to protect public health and the environment.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting” – EPA
Now, as that investigation plays out, it’s uncertain how the agency will respond to this unusual public dissent from its own employees. The case paints a picture of the larger fight in the federal government over maintaining environmental protections in the face of budget cut demands.