By Valerie Volcovici, Sarah N. Lynch, Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration has placed on leave nearly 200 employees who work on environmental justice programs at the Environmental Protection Agency, and is pursuing staff reductions in similar programs at the Justice Department.
The moves are in line with President Donald Trump’s broader orders to remove U.S. government support for diversity, equity and inclusion practices within the federal government, as well as to weaken Biden-era climate regulation.
Environmental groups said the cuts put minorities and lower-income families living near polluting facilities at risk, by weakening their regulatory and legal protections.
The EPA notified 168 employees working for the agency’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights – a division tasked with integrating equity and civil rights into environmental policymaking – on leave, the EPA confirmed.
“One hundred sixty-eight staffers were placed on administrative leave as their function did not relate to the agency’s statutory duties or grant work,” an EPA spokesperson said in a statement.
A Justice Department environmental office tasked with everything from issuing policy and ethics advice and reviewing draft regulations, to fulfilling public records requests, is also being cut, according to three sources familiar with the matter and an internal email seen by Reuters.
Approximately 20 employees who work within the Environment and Natural Resources Division Law and Policy Section are impacted by the planned “reduction in force” action, according to the sources.
On Wednesday, newly installed Attorney General Pam Bondi separately issued a memo announcing that the Department of Justice was rescinding Biden-era environmental justice directives and quoted Trump as saying: “Climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation.”
Prior to her memo, four employees who worked on environmental justice issues were placed on administrative leave.
“Going forward, the Department will evenhandedly enforce all federal civil and criminal laws, including environmental laws,” the memo said.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The Trump administration has already suspended all environmental litigation and sidelined senior career section chiefs at the DOJ who oversee the natural resources, environmental enforcement, appellate and environmental crimes sections.
The EPA had also notified over 1,000 “probationary” employees – who were in the job for less than a year – that they could face immediate termination by Thursday if they did not make the case for preserving their jobs. Many of those employees worked on climate change programs, one source said.
“The Trump Administration’s chaotic attack on EPA and the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights will expose Americans across the country to more deadly pollution,” said Jen Duggan, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in WashingtonEditing by Marguerita Choy and Matthew Lewis)
