EPA Extends Leave for Staffers Who Criticized Leadership

The EPA extended the administrative leave of 139 employees who were publicly critical of agency leadership by another two weeks late Wednesday.

The leave period announced July 3 had been set to expire on Thursday. It will now be in effect until Aug. 1, an Environmental Protection Agency notice said, pending inquiries about the staffers’ endorsement of a public letter that was titled a “declaration of dissent.”

It’s not clear if all 139 employees put on leave July 3 got the same extension, but an American Federation of Government Employees representative said she believes they did.

Come the new deadline, the employees could be cleared and ordered to report back to work, subjected to some form of discipline, or kept on administrative leave while the investigations continue.

Their June 30 letter addressed to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin alleged the agency has used its communication platforms to “promote misinformation and overtly partisan rhetoric.”

It also asserted the EPA has ignored scientific consensus to benefit polluters, turned its back on environmental justice communities, and promoted “a culture of fear, forcing staff to choose between their livelihood and well-being.”

An EPA spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the EPA “has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November.”

The staffers on administrative leave are not authorized to use government-issued computers or cell phones and cannot access EPA networks or systems. They are also forbidden from sending emails from their EPA accounts or performing any other official agency duties.

Their benefits and pay will not be docked, however, and they are expected to be available during regularly scheduled work hours if the EPA needs to contact them, according to the notice.