EPA is in chaos

with the end With a US government shutdown looming, disarray continues to reign in federal agencies. Environmental Protection Agency workers tell WIRED they’ve faced increasing chaos over the past five weeks.

In recent weeks, various stages of leave have forced staff to go home in seemingly random waves. Some of the agency’s remaining employees are working on fossil fuel-friendly policies and industry interests that are government priorities, even as other government departments shut down.

Others have been forced to sit on their hands, as closings leave colleagues without notice — and the remaining employees have little idea of ​​what lies ahead.

“When we send an email to someone and get an out-of-office message, or hover over names in Teams for people who show out-of-office, we learn who’s out,” an EPA employee told WIRED. (The worker and others in this story remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak to the press.)

Some of the retained employees are revising pollution laws, a major goal of government deregulation. An Office of Air and Radiation employee confirmed to WIRED that their team working on a rule review at that office is still being called to work, while others in the office — including support staff such as administrative assistants and operations staff — were sent home the week of Oct. 20.

“The staff who work in the regulatory section of the air office are still on the job,” the employee told WIRED. There are many holidays elsewhere. But we are still working on deregulation measures. The New York Times reported in mid-October that other staffers working to repeal rules favorable to oil, gas and coal interests have also been told to “keep going.”

About 4,400 employees have been laid off at the agency since late October, WIRED has learned. The agency had more than 15,000 employees as of Oct. 1, according to the EPA’s shutdown plan last updated in September. In the plan, the agency lists only 1,734 employees expected to remain in the event of a full shutdown. These employees work on “critical organizational activities” deemed critical enough to continue during the outage, including Superfund activities, disaster relief, criminal investigations, and investigative retention.

After Sunday’s vote in the Senate, the government shutdown could end as early as this week.

OMB Director Russell Vought, the public face of the government shutdown, has tried to use it as a way to further cut the federal workforce. But more than a month into the shutdown, EPA workers have largely been spared the severe layoffs and furloughs that have affected other agencies. Many workers are still coming in to do their jobs as the agency tries to continue business as usual. Meanwhile, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has placed the blame squarely on Democrats.