Steady And Quiet Elimination Of 100s Of Staff Positions At Multiple EPA Regional Offices

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EPA trimmed employees from a regional office and in other departments this year as the Trump administration continued its push to downsize the agency. Employees in EPA's San Francisco-based Region 9 were offered buyout and "early out" options over the summer, according to documents obtained by E&E News. Staff working in Las Vegas offices that were slated to close earlier this year were also made offers to leave, according to an EPA spokeswoman.

Eight staffers in the Region 9 office accepted buyouts earlier this year; another 12 accepted such offers in Las Vegas. Wendi Shafir, one of the eight Region 9 employees who took buyouts, told E&E News in an interview that two EPA programs she worked on — one for preventing pollution, the other managing sustainable materials — had been zeroed out in President Trump's budget request. "I took this buyout because I was feeling less and less able to do my job," said Shafir, an environmental engineer who worked at EPA for 27 years.

"It is very disheartening to have the two programs you work not be in the president's budget," she said. "And while Congress gave funding for those programs, it seems that they don't have the support of this administration, considering that they were not in the president's budget for the past two years." Shafir felt she could make better use of her environmental protection skills elsewhere, she said.

The cuts came during a change of leadership at EPA as former Administrator Scott Pruitt — known to boast of the agency's shrinking workforce — stepped down in July after battling a multitude of ethics allegations. Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler is now at the helm and is leading a reorganization effort that has left some employees worried about their future at the agency. But unlike a more widespread round of buyouts EPA offered last year — which targeted every program and regional office — this year's buyouts gained little notice outside the agency. Targeted staffers could take an incentive payment of up to $25,000 to leave the agency or choose early retirement instead if they were eligible.

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https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060103945

[sharedvalues]

1. GOP: Destroy government to cut taxes on the rich.