If EPA amputates its scientific arm, it would have consequences for environmental regulations for years to come, experts said.
Administrator Lee Zeldin’s proposal to eliminate the Office of Research and Development — and fire hundreds of scientists — threatens to drain the agency of experts who ensure that federal rules accurately target pollution and provide remedies. The move, if approved by the White House, could also lead the agency to depend on outside researchers who risk being selected through a politicized process that jeopardizes EPA’s mission of assessing regulations without prejudice, according to experts.
Reverberations from gutting the research office, known as ORD, could affect the agency long past the end of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“ORD is a crown jewel of EPA, and it provides indispensable scientific information that forms the underpinnings of a lot of regulatory decisions,” said Richard Revesz, who headed the White House regulatory office during the Biden administration.
