Staff placed on leave, map tool shut down in tumultuous week at EPA

EPA staffers have had to contend with dramatic shake-ups. About 1,100 employees were told they could be terminated, and then 168 staffers were put on leave.

In the brief week and a half Lee Zeldin has helmed the Environmental Protection Agency, a flurry of personnel moves have dramatically shaken up the agency — like many others — and rattled some staff members.

On the day of Zeldin’s confirmation last week, the EPA notified about 1,100 “probationary” employees who had been at the agency for less than a year that they could be terminated at any time.

Then on Thursday, the agency put 168 staffers on administrative leave; those affected worked on environmental justice issues across the EPA’s 10 regional offices and at its headquarters.

The agency this week also took down an online mapping tool called EJScreen, which had been used by federal, state and local governments to help policymakers make decisions in support of environmental justice. The term refers to the idea that people should have equitable access to clean and healthy environments and that some underserved communities have historically faced disproportionate environmental harms. A state highway agency, for example, could use EJScreen to review demographic information as it planned a roadway construction project.

Zeldin assumed his post a day after federal workers received “Fork in the Road” emails offering them buyouts to resign. Their deadline to accept the offer was Thursday night, but a federal judge put initiative on hold that day, following a legal challenge from labor unions. The program is blocked until at least Monday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/epa-staff-let-go-tool-shut-tumultuous-week-rcna191218

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