EPA Shutters Office of Environmental Justice on Inauguration Day

The Environmental Protection Agency, under incoming Administrator Lee Zeldin, closed its Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on Inauguration Day, eliminating a 30-year-old office created to address disproportionate pollution burdens on low-income and minority communities. The closure terminated dozens of staff positions and ended grant programs supporting environmental justice communities. Critics argued the closure violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which requires federal agencies to ensure their programs do not discriminate by race.