EPA sent reduction-in-force notices eliminating 280 environmental justice and civil rights staff, shutting down the OEJECR

On April 21, 2025, EPA Assistant Deputy Administrator Travis Voyles sent formal reduction-in-force notices to 280 employees in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR) and regional environmental justice divisions, with terminations effective July 31, 2025. An additional 175 employees performing "statutory functions" were reassigned within the agency rather than terminated outright. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin framed the action as eliminating "the Biden-Harris Administration's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Environmental Justice arms of the agency," announcing it on the eve of the 55th Earth Day.

The OEJECR was founded in 1992 under President George H.W. Bush — not as a partisan initiative but as a congressionally-funded enforcement mechanism under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was the primary federal body responsible for investigating complaints that federally funded projects, permits, or programs imposed disproportionate pollution burdens on communities of color. Its mandate derived from statute and had been expanded under administrations of both parties. The Trump administration eliminated it by executive action, without seeking legislation to rescind the statutory authority Congress had granted and funded.

The April 21 RIF notices were the formal legal culmination of a multi-step process. Zeldin announced the closure on March 12; approximately 170 employees were placed on administrative leave in February before being recalled in March after legal challenges; and the April 21 action finally issued the notices that triggered the statutory 60-day termination period. The administration proceeded under Executive Order 14151, issued January 20, 2025, directing agencies to end DEI and environmental justice programs. A related action — the July 18, 2025 elimination of EPA's Office of Research and Development — is recorded separately (entries/2025/07/18/federal-dismantling-agency-capacity-e8b45a02.md).