Largest EPA Union Applauds Congressional Letter Opposing Devastating Cuts to EPA Office of Research and Development

AFGE Council 238 Calls on Every Member of Congress to Vocalize Support, Hold Administration Accountable

WASHINGTON, D.C. — AFGE Council 238, the largest union of civil servants at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are applauding a recent letter led by Congressman Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), joined by 64 House Democrats, to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin demanding the immediate reversal of plans to cut the EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD).

The Trump Administration announced it is considering firing 75 percent of the ORD staff and reducing the Agency’s funding by 65 percent, a decision that would decimate the scientific backbone of the EPA that informs how to best safeguard human health and protect the environment from pollutants. The research and scientific decision-making ORD provides is both critical and required in multiple statutes, such as the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Clean Air Act.

“Dismantling ORD’s ability to fulfill its duties would jeopardize decades of progress in protecting public health and the environment. This includes everything from understanding and addressing the environmental causes of asthma in children and the long-term effects of exposure to lead pipes and paint in the home, to reducing the presence of forever chemicals in drinking water,” wrote the lawmakers.

In addition to demanding the immediate reversal of any plan that would result in mass firings of ORD employees or the dismantling of ORD as a whole, lawmakers requested detailed answers on how the EPA intends to fulfill its statutory obligations without technical ORD staff.

“AFGE Council 238 applauds every representative that is standing up for our workers and demanding the Trump administration put an end to the attacks on the EPA and our workforce,” said Marie Owens Powell, President of AFGE Council 238. “An attack on the ORD is an attack on science, our ability to protect public health and the environment, and the progress we have made to fight climate change. We’re calling on every single member of Congress to fight back against this assault on human health and speak out to support our workforce.”

Full text of the letter is available HERE.