EPA tightens science rules and rhetoric

The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening political control over its science work while defending grant cuts with sharper public language. (eenews.net) Internal memos obtained by E&E News say the agency’s new science office adopted a “no surprises” policy for research and public release of findings. The same report said remaining scientists from the dissolved Office of Research and Development were reassigned in early April, and some were told they would have to relocate to keep their jobs. (eenews.net) The Hill reported on April 10 that the agency was reassigning 124 staff members and requiring 35 of them to relocate as part of the reorganization. EPA said the moves were tied to its effort to reshape scientific research after breaking up the Office of Research and Development. (thehill.com) That research office had been the agency’s main in-house science arm, with more than 1,500 employees spread across 11 locations before the reorganization. In July 2025, EPA said a reduction in force affecting that office would deliver $748.8 million in savings. (cbsnews.com, epa.gov) The grant fight is moving on a parallel track. On March 11, 2025, Administrator Lee Zeldin said EPA had canceled more than 400 grants across nine programs, totaling $1.7 billion, and described them as unnecessary Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and environmental justice spending. (epa.gov) EPA had already announced on March 12, 2025, that it was terminating the agency’s environmental justice and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices, citing President Donald Trump’s executive order on “radical and wasteful” government Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. That January 2025 order directed agencies to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and environmental justice offices, grants and contracts to the maximum extent allowed by law. (epa.gov, govinfo.gov) EPA’s own scientific integrity policy, revised on January 16, 2025, says the agency’s mission depends on the integrity of the science it uses and that the policy is meant to protect honest, objective scientific work. The agency’s inspector general said the revision did not fully resolve concerns about how scientific integrity complaints should be reported and handled. (epa.gov, epa.gov) EPA says the restructuring will place scientists closer to program offices that carry out legal duties such as chemical reviews and water rules. Agency documents say scientific staff will be integrated into program offices instead of being “siloed” in the old research office. (epa.gov, epa.gov) Critics inside and outside the agency say the new structure gives political leadership more control over what gets studied, when it is published and where scientists work. For now, the same agency that says its decisions rest on sound science is also requiring advance clearance under a “no surprises” rule. (eenews.net, epa.gov)