Budget Calls for 30-Year Low in EPA Staff Levels

EPA staffing would plummet to its lowest levels since the mid-1980s, according to the Trump administration’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget.

The administration called for a 11,611-staff level at the Environmental Protection Agency in fiscal year 2018. That would mark a reduction of more than 3,000 employees, or roughly one-fifth of the current level. In 1984, EPA had 11,420 employees.

The EPA said the budget request’s staff level and overall $2.6 billion budget reduction “supports the agency’s return to a focus on core statutory work.” But the document is expected to meet significant resistance on Capitol Hill.

Shortly after its ...