EPA reorganization hits research arm

The US Environmental Protection Agency on May 2 announced its anticipated reorganization plan, which includes a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions (OASES). The agency did not give details on what this office will focus on, nor did it mention the existing EPA research body, the Office of Research and Development (ORD), in the announcement. But in an opinion piece published May 2 in Newsweek, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin wrote, “EPA is improving its structure by integrating scientific staff directly into our program offices instead of siloed in the Office of Research and Development.”Officials at EPA town hall meetings on the afternoon of May 2 did not comment on the fate of the ORD, even when asked direct questions about the office, according to multiple ORD employees who attended the meetings and spoke to C&EN. Instead, officials encouraged employees to apply for positions opening up at EPA program offices. But the number of new positions, estimated at around 500 across several offices, means that approximately two-thirds of the more than 1,500 current ORD employees could be left without a job.EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou did not respond to questions about the number of new positions compared with the number of current ORD employees. “This is a reorganization, not a reduction in force,” she told C&EN by email. “No staff are being let go with this announcement.” When asked about the discrepancy in the number of new positions compared with the number of current employees at ORD, she replied that