The Trump administration is pressing forward with a historic shakeup of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, even as the potential disruption threatens to make its deregulatory goals harder to achieve.
Early last week, EPA officials briefed employees on the final shape of the reorganization, which will eliminate two of the air office’s four major branches in favor of two new entities, including one intended to improve working relations between state and federal regulators, according to people familiar with the agency’s plans.
The new framework, hammered out largely in secrecy, is scheduled to take effect at the beginning of November, although that deadline is almost certain to slip in the event of a partial government shutdown. The agency began notifying affected employees of their new assignments the same day as the Sept. 22 briefing, according to a slide presentation viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the reorganization in May as part of a broader overhaul to promote efficiency and save money. Current and former staffers, however, foresee a rocky transition that could slow enactment of a rollback agenda that targets a host of Clean Air Act rules.
