On Mar. 12, 2025 EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin ordered the closure of OEJECR and the EJ divisions in the 10 EPA regions. This action followed a Feb. 2025 decision to place 171 employees on administrative leave who had been working on environmental justice or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives. The agency stated that the decision was pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order, Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.
On April 11 2025, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OCS) on behalf of the approximately 168 EPA staffers working in OEJECR. Complainants sought an investigation and an administrative stay of their leave from the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Background
In Sept. 2022, EPA launched the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR), to be led by a Senate-confirmed Assistant Administrator. The new office elevated EJ and civil rights enforcement to the same level as EPA’s other major offices for the first time. EPA merged the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ), the External Civil Rights Compliance Office (ECRCO), and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center to create the new office. One of the Office’s first tasks was to allocate $3 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in climate and environmental justice block grants.