In the News

 Chitra Kumar, Former Director, Office of Policy, Partnerships, and Program Development, OEJECR, was quoted in Yahoo! News about the proposed ORD workforce and budget cuts, saying, “The administration knows, and history shows, that industry will not regulate itself.”

Leaked documents from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology outlined plans to dismantle EPA’s Office of Research and Development. This proposal is an unprecedented assault on science and aims to slash 50-75% of EPA’s budget and workforce, effectively crippling its ability to protect human health and the environment. Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Research and Development, was quoted in The Washington Post about how these cuts will devastate public health and the environment.

Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Research and Development; Chitra Kumar, Former Director, Office of Policy, Partnerships, and Program Development, OEJECR; and Stan Meiburg, Former Acting Administrator, were quoted in Politico about how the proposed cuts will affect a wide range of environmental rules and regulations, as well as scientists across the country employed by major ORD research offices.

Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, was quoted in Newsweek about court orders to bring previously fired agency scientists back to work. However, these employees still do not have access to their emails or equipment, so they are still unable to complete any work.

Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Research and Development, was quoted in The New York Times about leaked documents from the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology that outlined plans to dismantle EPA’s Office of Research and Development and what the plan means for science.

Joe Goffman, former Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, and EPN’s press statement denouncing EPA’s announcement to roll back 31 Biden-era regulations were featured in The New Lede.

Zealan Hoover, former Senior Advisor to EPA Administrator and Director of Implementation, was mentioned in an article by Inside Climate News about the termination of billions of dollars for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Lawsuits from the grantees of the funding will likely take months to resolve.

Joe Goffman, former Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, and Jeremy Symons, Senior Adviser to EPN, were quoted in Politico about EPA’s massive deregulatory announcement and how the rollbacks will likely be scrutinized in court during a time when the agency is firing many of its employees needed to protect and rewrite rules. 

Joe Goffman, former Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Air and Radiation, was quoted in Politico, also about the reassessment of the endangerment finding, calling it a “universal lubricant” for Trump’s deregulatory agenda targeting climate policies.

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, was quoted in AP News about the huge deregulatory agenda that EPA released on Wednesday, March 12. 

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, was quoted in CBS News about how environmental justice has evolved within government over the past few presidential administrations and what the US loses from Trump closing OEJECR.

Zealan Hoover, former Senior Advisor to EPA Administrator and Director of Implementation, was quoted in an article by EcoWatch about Zeldin canceling $20 billion in federal grants awarded through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Michelle Roos was quoted in The New York Times about EPA funds that are newly listed as “suspended” in the government payment system as of last week and early this week.

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, was quoted in The Hill about EPA considering a rewrite of chemical safety review regulations. If implemented, the regulations will underscore the harms of exposure and restrict further regulations on toxic chemicals.

Margo Oge, former Director, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, wrote an op-ed about the importance of the endangerment finding and what it would take to uphold it during this administration.

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, did an interview with Inside Climate News about how environmental justice has evolved within government over the past few presidential administrations and what the US loses from Trump closing OEJECR.

Stan Meiburg, former Acting Deputy Administrator; Linda Birnbaum, former director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; and Michelle Roos were quoted in North Carolina Health News about how Trump’s budget cuts for EPA will negatively affect local North Carolinians.

David Cash, former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1, was quoted in Politico about a decade-old pledge made by a 10-state coalition to promote and incentivize electric vehicles. The pledge was successful and got over 3.3 million EVs on roads by 2025.

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, was quoted in The Washington Post about EPA calling back employees that were previously put on administrative leave

 Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, and Chitra Kumar, former Director, Office of Policy, Partnerships and Program Development, OEJECR, were in E&E News about EPA grantees requiring approval from DOGE before accessing more than $50,000 at a time and EPA staffing levels

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights; David Cash, former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1; and Adam Ortiz, former Regional Administrator, EPA Region 3, were quoted in Inside Climate News about the recall of environmental justice employees back to work after being put on administrative leave.

Stan Meiburg, former Acting Deputy Administrator, was quoted in E&E News about a public list of federal buildings located across the nation targeted for “disposal.” Many of the buildings host EPA and Department of Energy employees.

Matt Tejada, former Deputy Director, EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, was quoted in E&E News about DOGE’s recent decision to cancel leases for EPA offices nationwide, saying that when cutting these leases, “you are basically cutting the ties that hold together environmental protection in our country.”

Betsy Southerland, former Director, Science and Technology, EPA Office of Water, and Kevin Minoli, former Acting General Counsel, EPA Office of General Counsel, were quoted in E&E News about the Supreme Court siding with the City of San Francisco on a case that repealed an CWA permitting tool to protect water quality from facility pollutants.