Trump Administration's Cross-Agency Eliminations Affect Environmental Justice Policies
The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR) has placed around 170 employees on administrative leave, according to multiple news outlets. The move comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo on Wednesday rescinding previous environmental justice programs within the Justice Department.
The employees affected are those who perform 50% or more duties in environmental justice or non-statutory work, as confirmed by Acting Assistant Administrator of the OEJECR, Theresa Segovia, on a call with OEJECR employees on Thursday.
The OEJECR, established under a Clinton-era executive order, ensures the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, colour, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision making and other federal activities that affect human health and the environment. The office handles federal civil rights law disputes for applicants of federal financial assistance from the EPA, as well as conflict resolution.
The OEJECR's mission is to ensure the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in agency decision making and other federal activities that affect human health and the environment. The department's website states that the OEJECR is responsible for handling both federal civil rights law disputes and conflict resolution.
Reports surfaced shortly after the inauguration that 25 staffers from the department's Office of Energy Justice Policy and Analysis were placed on administrative leave. The Department of Justice's Office of Environmental Justice, created in 2022 and housed within the department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, also faced similar actions, with Reuters reporting that four employees from the DOJ's Office of Environmental Justice were placed on administrative leave, along with another 20 within ENRD facing a reduction in force action.
Officials from the Office of Personnel Management tweeted Thursday night that the deadline to accept the resignation "is being extended to Monday, February 10, at 11:59pmET" and that the program "is NOT being blocked or canceled." The Trump administration's efforts to encourage employees from across the federal government to accept a "deferred resignation" were temporarily halted Thursday by a court order.
The memo issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi aimed to "ensure that the Department engages in the even-handed administration of justice." The move by the EPA's OEJECR and the Justice Department to place employees on administrative leave has sparked concerns about the future of environmental justice programs within these agencies. The search results do not provide information about who ordered that employees in the Office for Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights of the Environmental Protection Agency be assigned to administrative duty.
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