EPA eliminates research and development office, begins layoffs

The Environmental Protection Agency announced connected Friday that it is eliminating its probe and improvement limb and reducing bureau unit by thousands of employees.

The agency's Office of Research and Development has agelong provided the technological underpinnings for EPA's ngo to support the situation and quality health. The EPA said successful May that it would displacement its technological expertise and probe efforts to programme offices that absorption connected important issues, specified arsenic aerial and water.

The bureau said Friday it is creating a caller Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions that volition let it to absorption connected probe and subject "more than ever before."

Once afloat implemented, the changes are expected to prevention the EPA astir $750 million, officials said.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said successful a connection that the changes announced Friday would guarantee the bureau "is amended equipped than ever to present connected our halfway ngo of protecting quality wellness and the environment, portion Powering the Great American Comeback.''

The EPA besides announced that it is opening the process to destruct thousands of jobs, pursuing a Supreme Court ruling past week that cleared the mode for President Donald Trump's plans to downsize the national workforce, contempt warnings that captious authorities services volition beryllium compromised. Hundreds of thousands of national employees volition beryllium retired of their jobs.

Total staffing astatine EPA volition alteration to 12,448, a simplification of much than 3,700 employees, oregon astir 23%, from the staffing levels successful January erstwhile Trump took office, the bureau stated.

"This simplification successful unit volition guarantee we tin amended fulfill that ngo portion being liable stewards of your hard-earned taxation dollars," Zeldin said, utilizing a authorities word for wide firings.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the apical Democrat connected the House Science Committee, called the elimination of the probe bureau "a travesty.''

"The Trump medication is firing hardworking scientists portion employing governmental appointees whose occupation it is to prevarication incessantly to Congress and to the American people,'' she said. "The obliteration of ORD volition person generational impacts connected Americans' wellness and safety."

The Office of Research and Development "is the bosom and encephalon of the EPA,'' said Justin Chen, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA employees.

"Without it, we don't person the means to measure impacts upon quality wellness and the environment,'' Chen said. "Its demolition volition devastate nationalist wellness successful our country."

The probe bureau — EPA's main subject limb — presently has 1,540 positions, excluding peculiar authorities employees and nationalist wellness officers, according to bureau documents reviewed by Democratic unit connected the House subject sheet earlier this year. As galore arsenic 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and different scientists could beryllium laid off, the documents indicated.

The probe bureau has 10 facilities crossed the country, stretching from Florida and North Carolina to Oregon. An EPA spokeswoman said Friday that each laboratory functions presently conducted by the probe bureau volition continue.

In summation to the simplification successful force, oregon RIF, the bureau besides is offering the 3rd circular of deferred resignations for eligible employees, including probe bureau staff, spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou said. The exertion play is unfastened until July 25.

The EPA's announcement comes 2 weeks aft the bureau placed 139 employees who signed a "declaration of dissent" with bureau policies connected administrative permission nether the Trump administration. The bureau accused the employees of "unlawfully undermining" Trump's agenda.

In a missive made nationalist June 30, the employees wrote that the EPA is nary longer surviving up to its ngo to support quality wellness and the environment. The missive represented uncommon nationalist disapproval from bureau employees who knew they could look retaliation for speaking out.