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An internal memo directs the closure of offices designed to ease the heavy pollution faced by poor and minority communities.
March 11, 2025
The Trump administration intends to eliminate Environmental Protection Agency offices responsible for addressing the disproportionately high levels of pollution facing poor communities, according to a memo from Lee Zeldin, the agency administrator.
In the internal memo, viewed by The New York Times, Mr. Zeldin informed agency leaders that he was directing “the reorganization and elimination” of the offices of environmental justice at all 10 E.P.A. regional offices as well as the one in Washington.
Mr. Zeldin’s move effectively ends three decades of work at the E.P.A. to try to ease the pollution that burdens poor and minority communities, which are frequently located near highways, power plants, industrial plants and other polluting facilities. Studies have shown that people who live in those communities have higher rates of asthma, heart disease and other health problems, compared with the national average.
“If anybody needed a clearer sign that this administration gives not a single damn for the people of the United States, this is it,” Matthew Tejada, a former E.P.A. official who is now a senior vice president for environmental health at the Natural Resources Defense Fund, a nonprofit organization.
Molly Vaseliou, an E.P.A. spokeswoman, described the moves as “organizational improvements” that align with President Trump’s orders to end wasteful spending and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
In a statement, Mr. Zeldin suggested that environmental justice — which the agency defined in 2013 as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income” with respect to environmental laws — was tantamount to discrimination.
