Trump Admin Reportedly Axing EPA’s Environmental Justice Workforce

The Trump administration is reportedly proceeding with the first wave of layoffs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), mainly centered around environmental justice program workers.

Assistant Deputy Administrator Travis Voyles wrote in an internal memo on Monday that the EPA will begin cutting the rest of its environmental justice staff on July 31, according to Politico’s E&E News and Bloomberg Law who reviewed a copy of the notice.

“This action is necessary to align our workforce with the Agency’s current and future needs and to ensure the efficient and effective operation of our programs,” Voyles reportedly wrote in the memo. The notice reportedly advises staffers in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well as those in the Regional Environmental Justice Divisions of the EPA’s intent to carry out a “reduction in force.”

Voyles’ notice reportedly did not specify how many employees would be cut.

“With this action, EPA is delivering organizational improvements to the personnel structure that will directly benefit the American people and better advance the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment,” Voyles continued.

The EPA and Voyles’ office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment, or a copy of the notice reviewed by Politico and Bloomberg Law.