EPA, in Midst of Hiring Spree, Faces Uphill Push for More Staff

The EPA has hired 500 new employees since President Joe Biden took office, helping to replenish its battered ranks, which stand at a 34-year low, the agency tells Bloomberg Law. Recruiting hundreds more, however, may not be as easy.

The new hires have backfilled about half the vacancies created at the Environmental Protection Agency during the Trump administration. But EPA administrator Michael Regan’s hope of adding 1,000 more hinges on both Congress approving Biden’s $11.2 billion budget request for the agency, and on Regan’s ability to maneuver through a hiring process that one former EPA official says isn’t designed for ...