On the same day that the Trump administration is proposing billions of dollars in cuts to renewable energy, environmental and climate programs, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a significant reorganization of his agency.
“EPA is creating the first-of-its-kind Office of State Air Partnerships within the Office of Air and Radiation. This office will be focused on working with, not against, state, local and tribal air permitting agencies to improve processing of State Implementation Plans and resolving air permitting concerns,” Zeldin said in a video posted to YouTube.
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Zeldin said the EPA is also creating an Office of Clean Air program that “will align statutory obligations and mission essential functions based on centers of expertise to ensure more transparency and harmony in regulatory development.”
Further, the agency is making changes to its Office of Water and creating a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions, which Zeldin says will “prioritize research and put science at the forefront of the agency’s rule makings and technical assistance to states.”
Zeldin says the EPA will add more than 130 new employees to address the backlog of new chemicals and pesticides waiting for a review and “elevate” the issues of emergency response, cybersecurity, water reuse and conservation.
On Monday, the agency announced a new initiative to address contamination by PFAS, which are also known as forever chemicals. During his remarks, Zeldin said the new EPA structure would help the agency better understand how the chemicals impact human health and the environment.
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The restructuring moves come on the same day the Trump administration released its 2026 fiscal year budget.
The administration’s budget cuts $15 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a Biden administration initiative that provided funds for carbon capture and renewable energy projects. The budget also calls for slashing $6 billion for EV chargers.
The budget proposal also calls for cutting grants to environmental organizations and eliminating the EPA’s Environmental Justice Program, a division that enforced civil rights laws and ensured that all people received the same level of environmental protection.
Sierra Club legislative director Melinda Pierce wrote in a statement, “This budget outline would dangerously slash funding to protect our air and water, disinvest in the clean energy manufacturing boom that has powered our economic recovery, and raise costs for working families who are already struggling to get by amidst the chaos and uncertainty that this administration has created in just three short months.”
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Zeldin said the reorganization would save more than $300 million a year and that the agency’s goal is to reduce staffing to match the level of Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
“EPA will strive to accomplish all this while fulfilling our commitment to the rule of law, advancing cooperative federalism, and being good stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars,” Zeldin said in his remarks.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announces significant agency reorganization originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
