Epa Chief Zeldin Announces Overhauls To Bring Agency Back To Reagan-level Staffing

The national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing a monolithic overhaul to slash staffing down to Reagan-era levels and prevention taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year, agency main Lee Zeldin announced connected Friday. 

"This reorganization will bring much-needed efficiencies to incorporated subject into our rulemakings and sharply attraction our activity connected providing nan cleanest air, land, and h2o for our communities," Zeldin said successful a property merchandise connected Friday. 

Zeldin announced that he is connected a ngo to prevention taxpayers an estimated $300 cardinal annually by adjacent twelvemonth done an agency overhaul that he said will support nan EPA's attraction connected protecting human wellness and nan environment while "recommitting" nan agency to "common consciousness policies." 

The EPA employs astir 15,000 full-time workers, which Zeldin said he is moving to bring down to levels "near those seen erstwhile President Ronald Reagan occupied nan White House," according to a video announcement of nan agency overhauls. There were 11,400 EPA staffers successful 1984 nether nan Reagan administration, Reuters reported. 

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Lee Zeldin connected Capitol Hill for his Senate confirmation to service arsenic EPA administrator.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The EPA said nan Office of nan Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), and Office of Water will each look restructuring. 

Zeldin said he will reorganize nan agency's investigation agency to displacement its attraction connected "statutory obligations and mission-essential functions," including by creating a caller agency called nan Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions.

The caller agency will "prioritize investigation and put subject astatine nan forefront of nan agency's rulemakings and method assistance to states. At nan programme level, nan Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention will adhd much than 130 scientific, technical, bioinformatic and accusation exertion experts to activity straight connected nan backlog of complete 504 caller chemicals successful reappraisal that are beyond nan statutorily required timeframe. And they're besides going to reside nan backlog of complete 12,000 reviews that are good beyond nan expected reappraisal timelines successful nan pesticides program," Zeldin said. 

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President Ronald Reagan astatine Durenberger Republican normal rally, 1982  (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The EPA will besides create nan Office of State Air Partnerships wrong nan Office of Air and Radiation, which Zeldin said will streamline resolving aerial permitting concerns crossed nan state, section and tribal levels.

"EPA is besides creating nan Office of Clean Air programs that will align statutory obligations and ngo basal functions based connected centers of expertise to guarantee much transparency and harmony successful regulatory development. Similarly, changes to nan Office of Water will amended align nan improvement of regulations, guidance and argumentation pinch nan subject that underpins it," Zeldin added of different caller agency successful nan agency shakeup. 

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Zeldin underscored that erstwhile he took nan reins of nan agency earlier this year, he "inherited a workforce that didn't travel into nan office."

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attends a gathering pinch U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte successful nan Oval Office of nan White House connected Mar. 13, 2025 successful Washington, D.C. The 2 leaders met arsenic nan Trump management has erstwhile again put nan subject confederation betwixt nan United States and Western Europe successful question.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

"In 2024, nan grounds precocious time of attendance astatine EPA office successful D.C., clocked successful astir 37%. Upon President Trump's swearing in, we instantly ended COVID-era distant work," Zeldin said. 

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The erstwhile New York congressman added that EPA's fund and awards successful granted past twelvemonth alone, nether nan Biden administration, sat astatine $63 cardinal — though it had antecedently been funded to nan tune of betwixt $6 cardinal and $8 cardinal a year, he said. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office successful Washington, D.C.  (Getty Images )

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"We are going to massively trim this excess spending. We beryllium it to nan American payer to beryllium arsenic businesslike arsenic possible. We've already started to make important advancement by re-examining grants and contracts, existent property footprint, recreation costs, unit and more. With nan thief of DOGE, EPA has identified and canceled much than $22 cardinal successful grants and contracts. These are direct savings for nan American people," Zeldin said.