EPA plan to dismantle research office raises alarm about politicizing science

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun dismantling its 1,500-person research arm, alarming scientists who warn the move will hobble studies on pollution and public health.

Sean Reilly reports for E&E News.

In short:

• Administrator Lee Zeldin says dissolving the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and replacing it with the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions will save $750 million and “align” science with agency priorities.
• Hundreds of ORD scientists have already been reassigned; Senate appropriators called the shake-up “appalling” and ordered an immediate halt, but union leaders say layoffs and transfers continue.
• Industry advocate Steve Milloy welcomed the closure of EPA’s human inhalation lab, while former officials warn the loss of independent research on heat, PFAS, and particulate matter endangers public health.

Key quote:

“It’s really putting American lives at risk.”

— Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former EPA Office of Research and Development official

Why this matters:

EPA science underpins standards for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the chemicals that course through consumer products. When core research is steered by political appointees — or simply defunded — regulators lose the data needed to judge whether refinery emissions drive asthma spikes, whether “forever chemicals” slip from tap water into bloodstreams, or how rising heat magnifies the harms of smog. Without that evidence, rules can stall or skew, leaving clinicians guessing at causes of illness and communities absorbing unseen costs. The stakes are especially high for children, older adults, and low-income neighborhoods already burdened by traffic exhaust and industrial waste. An EPA with fewer independent scientists means the country lacks expertise to navigate and respond to a warmer, more chemically complex world.

Read more: America’s scientific dominance is crumbling from within