January 20, 2025
EPA shutters Office of Environmental Justice despite Civil Rights Act
EPA environmental justice office eliminated, $1.7B grants canceled, 168 laid off
🌱Environment📋Public Policy
On Feb. 2025, Trump appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency notified staff they plan to close the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights and place 168 of its employees on administrative leave (Washington Post EPA office closure).
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin canceled more than 400 environmental justice grants totaling $1.7 billion that had funded air monitors and clean-water projects (Stateline environmental grants article).
On Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued the executive order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” terminating environmental justice positions; four days later, on Jan. 24, 2025, he rescinded Executive Order 14096, which had incorporated environmental justice into all executive-branch decision making (Stinson environmental analysis; Foley law firm policy analysis).
🌱Environment📋Public Policy
Test Your Knowledge
10
Q1
According to Trump officials, environmental justice programs were criticized as what?
Q2
How many EPA environmental justice employees were placed on administrative leave in February 2025?
Q3
When did Trump sign the executive order eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs including environmental justice?
Q4
What was the total dollar amount of environmental justice grants canceled by the Trump administration?
Q5
Name the university professor who warned that disability programs face "serious risk" from these funding cuts.
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President Donald Trump
issued the Jan. 20, 2025, Executive Order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” eliminating the EPA’s environmental justice office, and on Jan. 24, 2025, rescinded EO 14096 (Stinson environmental analysis; Foley law firm policy analysis).
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin
placed 168 environmental justice office staff on administrative leave and canceled over 400 EJ grants totaling $1.7 billion; on Feb. 4, 2025, he announced the “Powering the Great American Comeback” initiative (Washington Post EPA office closure; Stateline environmental grants article; Foley environmental developments).
Attorney General Pam Bondi
rescinded former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Mar. 2022 directives prioritizing enforcement of environmental laws in overburdened and underserved communities, extending the rollback beyond the EPA (Washington Post environmental offices; NPR environmental enforcement).