EPA’s proposed science wing will likely be “much smaller” than the agency’s existing Office of Research and Development and consist of three divisions focusing on coastal areas, drinking water safety and methodologies for assessing environmental contamination, according to an internal summary viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions (OASES) “would be expected to operate quite differently from ORD,” with more of a focus on shorter-term projects that meet “statutorily required functions,” according to the emailed roundup. It was sent to research office staff this week to summarize a town hall meeting held last Wednesday, according to two employees granted anonymity.
“OASES is expected to be much smaller than ORD, so teams will look much different and will have different goals, strategies, etc.,” one portion says.
The summary offers far more detail on the potential structure than EPA has publicly released since Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the new office’s creation early last month. But key details, like the exact number of employees, remain unclear.
The implications for EPA’s other research focus areas, ranging from toxicology to climate science, have also not been spelled out.
Under one draft plan obtained and released by Democrats on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee in March, up to three-quarters of ORD’s approximately 1,500 jobs would be cut and the office cease to exist as a stand-alone entity.
The creation of OASES would be an initial step in a broader restructuring ordered by the White House that has left agency researchers shaken. More than 240 ORD employees have so far jumped on an agency offer to resign or retire early in return for months of paid administrative leave.
At last Wednesday’s town hall, “It was reiterated that this is a proposal, that all of this could change and not happen,” one career scientist told E&E News. “But for scientists operating within this realm of uncertainty, it’s hard to do what you need to do and continue to be engaged.”
With OASES’ apparent focus solely on research tied to EPA regulations and legal requirements, the agency could become less equipped to discover emerging environmental concerns, the staffer added.
“The problems are going to continue to come,” they said. “We can enforce the existing laws, but you’re not protected from new things if you don’t do this research.”
While it has not been spelled out in writing that OASES would fully replace the existing Office of Research and Development, another employee said, “it has been implied, and the inference seems pretty clear that ORD would be gone.”
For now, the restructuring is on hold because of a preliminary federal court injunction that also applies to other executive branch agencies. “In line with the court’s order and guidance received by the Department of Justice, EPA is moving forward with only reorganization planning activities,” an agency spokesperson said Wednesday.
The new office would be housed in Zeldin’s office, include the Office of Children’s Health and provide “research laboratory support functions,” according to the email sent to all ORD staff summarizing the latest information.
It will also likely include most of EPA’s standalone research laboratories “to some extent,” but details are still evolving, according to the email, sent by Tia Groves, chief of staff for ORD in the Office of the Administrator.
“OASES would prioritize applied, shorter-term, solutions-oriented projects that align directly with the immediate needs of EPA programs and regional offices and/or support the agency’s goal of cooperative federalism,” Groves’ email said.
The summary shows that EPA’s four research centers now have acting leaders, confirming E&E New’s prior reporting that their previous chiefs have all taken the deferred resignation offers that required them to go on leave starting Monday.
Amid the wave of departures, “we have identified critical gaps that may emerge in the roles and functions of our organization and potential impacts on the science that we need to produce,” the summary says. “We are developing a plan to fill as needed.”
Of the new office’s three proposed branches, the first would be labeled the “Applied Sciences and Environmental Methods Division,” with a focus on methodologies “for assessing and monitoring environmental pollutants, including ambient air quality, air emissions, and microbiological and chemical pollutants in surface water,” according to the summary.
The second would be the “Environmental Solutions Division” to develop “innovative approaches for analyzing and treating drinking water contaminants and managing waste and materials,” the roundup continues. Its tasks would also include emergency response and remediation of contaminated sites.
Lastly, the “Coastal Sciences Solution Division” would furnish “environmental solutions for the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and Great Lakes coastal areas, focusing on place-based applied sciences.”
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