EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights likely to close
More employees Environmental Protection Agency They were told Wednesday that their work seemed suspicious. The senior EPA leadership held a comprehensive meeting to tell individuals about President Trump’s executive order,”End the radical and wasteful government DEI program and favor it“Responsible for closing the agency’s diversity, equity and inclusion bureau, could lead to closures Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights That’s the same.
Once the executive order comes into effect, employees of the EPA DEI office will take administrative leave on January 22. Staff from the Office of Environmental Justice were told that their department expects a similar written notice on Thursday, but it is not clear whether all employees will also take administrative leave or terminate immediately.
CBS News has contacted the EPA.
The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights supports EPA’s efforts to address vulnerable communities identified by the agency Disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and ensure they have equitable access to a healthy environment and enforce federal civil rights laws.
“There are a lot of rumors all day,” said Matthew Tejada, who was deputy assistant administrator of the Office of Environmental Justice for more than a decade before leaving the EPA in December 2023. “The staff were shocked and anxious.”
The current EPA staff member of the Environmental Justice Office, who asked not to be named, said senior leadership held a two-and-a-half-hour call on Wednesday to discuss the logistics of the order, but said the manager would not have much details to share until formally issued Until the notice.
Many people on the call were confused and concerned. EPA employees have received the “for“Email, submit resignation to anyone who agrees to leave the position by February 6. However, this person received an email warning that they may be Terminate immediately due to its trial status As an employee in the current position for less than one year, this was created under the Interim Plan for the Lower Inflation Act, which lasts for two years. It is unclear whether they are eligible for administrative leave or are immediately rejected.
The agency’s Washington, D.C. headquarters and 10 regional offices nationwide have approximately 250 people working for the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. He said the news was particularly distressing for Tejada, who worked with many employees while leading the office, “I hired everyone.”
Tejada, now senior vice president of environmental health at the National Defense Council of Natural Resources, said: “Closing the Environmental Justice Office will mean more toxic pollutants, dangerous air and unsafe water in communities across the country, which are subject to the sanitation of the pollutants. The most harmed by pollution in the past.”
