Latest news with #OfficeofEnvironmentalJustice
The Hill
07-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Environmental justice staff put on leave at EPA
The employees were part of the agency's Office of Environmental Justice, which sought to help people in areas with significant levels of pollution — including minority neighborhoods. EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou confirmed 168 staff members in the office were placed on leave since 'their function did not relate to the agency's statutory duties or grant work.' Vaseliou also cited President Trump's executive order that directs all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff to be put on leave and said the EPA is 'in the process of evaluating new structure and organization to ensure we are meeting our mission of protecting human health and the environment for all Americans.' In addition to the suspensions, a tool known as EJScreen, which showed how pollution data intersected with demographic and income data, was offline as of Friday. Studies, including those conducted by the EPA in the past, have found that Black Americans in particular face high levels of pollution, and the disparities they face are even more pronounced than disparities faced by the poor.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
EPA puts employees who tackle pollution in overburdened communities on leave
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put more than 160 workers who tackle pollution in overburdened communities on leave. The employees were part of the agency's Office of Environmental Justice, which sought to help people in areas with significant levels of pollution — including minority neighborhoods. EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou confirmed that 168 staff members in the office were placed on leave since 'their function did not relate to the agency's statutory duties or grant work.' Vaseliou also cited President Trump's executive order that directs all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff to be put on leave and said that the EPA is 'in the process of evaluating new structure and organization to ensure we are meeting our mission of protecting human health and the environment for all Americans.' According to an email sent to staff and obtained by The Hill, employees were told they would still receive salary and benefits, although they could not do their work. In addition to the suspensions, a tool known as EJScreen, which showed how pollution data intersected with demographic and income data, was offline as of Friday. Studies, including those conducted by the EPA, have found that Black Americans in particular face high levels of pollution, and that the disparities they face are more pronounced than disparities faced by the poor. Matthew Tejada, a former environmental justice official at the EPA, said the move shows 'this administration's chest thumping about clean air, clean water and clean land is being proven a lie right in front of us.' 'The communities in our country that face the greatest pollution challenges and that need the most help from their government to enjoy the same sort of clean environment that most of us take for granted are being cast aside,' he said. Tejada also noted that communities that are helped by the office are 'facing some of the most dangerous things that human beings can face' such as lead, toxic substances such as 'forever chemicals: and PCBs and radioactive wastes. The news comes after the Senate confirmed former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) to lead the agency late last month. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
07-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
EPA puts employees who tackle pollution in overburdened communities on leave
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), led by former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), has put more than 160 workers who tackle pollution in overburdened communities on leave. The employees were part of the agency's Office of Environmental Justice, which sought to help people in areas with significant levels of pollution — including minority neighborhoods. EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou confirmed that 168 staff members in the office were placed on leave since 'their function did not relate to the agency's statutory duties or grant work.' Vaseliou also cited President Trump's executive order that directs all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff to be put on leave and said that the EPA is 'in the process of evaluating new structure and organization to ensure we are meeting our mission of protecting human health and the environment for all Americans.' According to an email sent to staff and obtained by The Hill, employees were told they would still receive salary and benefits, although they could not do their work. In addition to the suspensions, a tool known as EJScreen, which showed how pollution data intersected with demographic and income data, was offline as of Friday. Studies, including those conducted by the EPA, have found that Black Americans in particular face high levels of pollution, and that the disparities they face are more pronounced than disparities faced by the poor. Matthew Tejada, a former environmental justice official at the EPA, said the move shows 'this administration's chest thumping about clean air, clean water and clean land is being proven a lie right in front of us.' 'The communities in our country that face the greatest pollution challenges and that need the most help from their government to enjoy the same sort of clean environment that most of us take for granted are being cast aside,' he said. Tejada also noted that communities that are helped by the office are 'facing some of the most dangerous things that human beings can face' such as lead, toxic substances such as 'forever chemicals: and PCBs and radioactive wastes.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
EPA puts 168 staffers on administrative leave
The Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday it placed on leave 168 employees who worked on addressing pollution facing communities of color and low-income and rural areas. The move is the latest and most sweeping action by EPA to implement President Donald Trump's agenda targeting diversity, equity and inclusion activities across the federal government. The Biden administration had sought to increase the agency's focus on those 'environmental justice' communities that have historically borne a disproportionate share of the country's pollution, but the Trump administration has moved to roll those efforts back as part of its campaign to end DEI work. 'Career staff made determinations on which Office of Environmental Justice employees had statutory duties or core mission functions,' EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou said in a statement. 'As such, 168 staffers were placed on administrative leave as their function did not relate to the agency's statutory duties or grant work. EPA is in the process of evaluating new structure and organization to ensure we are meeting our mission of protecting human health and the environment for all Americans.' The affected employees were called to a hastily convened meeting Thursday afternoon, then sent a formal notification later in the day. 'Effective immediately, you are being placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits. This administrative leave is not being done for any disciplinary purpose,' a copy of the email obtained by POLITICO states. Two office staffers who attended the meeting said not all of the environmental justice office's employees were present. The staffers were granted anonymity because they feared reprisals. They said that Theresa Segovia, the career official who is overseeing the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights in an acting capacity, told them that employees receiving leave notices are those whose jobs are at least 50 percent focused on environmental justice work and are not statutorily required. They said Segovia shared no information about the future of the environmental justice office, which was created in 2022 by President Joe Biden. It was not immediately clear what if any functions of the office will continue. The office also handles complaints made under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while other workers provide basic support in areas like information technology, budgeting and fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests. The agency previously placed at least three workers on leave from its now-shuttered Office of Inclusive Excellence, which promoted DEI within the agency.
New York Times
06-02-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Workers at E.P.A.'s Office of Environmental Justice Are Told They May Be Put on Leave
Employees at the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice were told in a telephone meeting this week that some of them could soon be placed on administrative leave, according to four people familiar with the matter. The move was seen as the first step in President Trump's widely expected plan to do away with the office. On his first day back in the White House, he signed an executive order to eliminate all government programs on environmental justice, which are aimed at protecting poor and minority communities from disproportionate harm from pollution. The people familiar with the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation, said that it included the office's roughly 100 staff members who report to E.P.A. headquarters in Washington. They were told by Theresa Segovia, the agency's acting assistant administrator of environmental justice, that the agency was 'moving forward with complying' with that executive order, the people said. The steps involved would mirror those recently taken to place federal workers in diversity, equity and inclusion programs on administrative leave, the people said. The E.P.A. employees on the call were not told which or how many people would be placed on leave, but were told that staff members would be notified individually. The people said they expected that the notifications were 'imminent.' Many of the agency's additional 100 or so environmental justice employees who work in its regional offices around the country are expected to be the next in line to be placed on administrative leave, said these people. An online screening and mapping tool used by the environmental justice office, called 'EJScreen' had been taken down as of Thursday morning. Earlier this week, the E.P.A. notified about 1,100 career employees who had been hired in the past year and had probationary status that they could be 'fired immediately.' That number appeared likely to include a large number of employees of the office of environmental justice, which was created in 2022 under the Biden administration. Asked to confirm the plan to put employees on leave, Molly Vaseliou, an agency spokeswoman, responded by email: 'If we have something to announce, we'll let you know.' Mr. Trump's advisers have proposed plans to dismantle other parts of the E.P.A., which is charged with protecting the nation's public health by regulating pollution that harms the air, water and climate. The agency's Office of Environmental Justice grew out of decades of efforts within the agency to incorporate civil rights with environmental protection. The office's work has focused in part on ensuring that air, water and chemical safety regulations, many of which affect the profits of electric utilities, automakers and other big companies, are inscribed with provisions that try to mitigate the impact of environmental damage to poorer and minority communities. It is also charged with enforcing portions of the Civil Rights Act.
