EPA reverses course, reinstating dozens of environmental justice workers

Less than a month after placing the entire staff of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on administrative leave, the Environmental Protection Agency has reinstated dozens of employees in offices across the country.

Some employees at regional EPA offices received an email Monday asking them to return to work, according to four employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media, and they returned to work on Wednesday.

EPA spokeswoman Molly Vaseliou confirmed the agency is reassessing its staffing plans in light of recent guidance from the White House but did not provide any specifics on whether the agency has brought back any of the office’s employees.

“Last month, EPA placed 171 employees in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility and Environmental Justice on administrative leave,” she said. “EPA is considering the guidance from OPM and the President and is evaluating our workforce optimization plans pursuant to recent guidance.”

The about-face comes after a number of high-profile staffing reversals across the government, including workers at the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration who maintain the nation’s nuclear weapons.

Myron Ebell, who led the EPA transition team during Trump’s first term, said he doesn’t think there is a need for environmental justice offices, or for regional offices. “I think a lot of the regional office work is duplicative and therefore can be eliminated,” said Ebell, who currently serves as the chairman of the American Lands Council, an advocacy group.

The reversal came, according to one of the employees, because their role involved tasks that are required by law. This person said that other staff members who were reinstated also performed roles related to statutory or regulatory requirements. Not all the reinstated staff members worked in environmental justice roles.

“Everyone should be back. Our mission is so critical: protecting human health and the environment,” the staff member said.

Another employee who was called back to work said that previously their job had been “making sure federal policy is being implemented on the ground and giving communities opportunities to comment on different chemicals.”

“We are starting to see some reality set in for political appointees,” said Matthew Tejada, who served in the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights from 2013 to 2023 and now works at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group. Tejada said he believed that many environmental justice employees were brought back because of their local knowledge and relationships, which make the federal government more effective.

“These leaves were conducted indiscriminately and without any consideration of statutory requirements, or of the effect the firings would have on Americans,” Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said in an email. “It is further evidence that DOGE and the Trump Administration do not understand what federal employees do.”