Yellowstone National Park’s superintendent disputes a group’s contention the agency has waived $1.2 million in right-of-way fees for a company that is installing 187 miles of fiber -optic cable in the park, recently released documents show. Public Employees for Environmental ...

Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit organization that supports environmental workers and has been tracking these administrative problems, said the errors suggest leadership problems within the agency. “They’re ...

Jeff Ruch, who serves as senior counsel to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, warned that efforts to shed protections for career employees, or make them easier to fire, could result in a significant waste of federal resources, as well as talent. “If they get rid of a ...

By one estimate, there are now over 100,000 federal employees currently on paid administrative leave. Some took the deferred resignation option offered early in the Trump Administration, but about 50% were put on administrative leave involuntarily. Public Employees for Environmental ...

In the documents PEER received in its FOIA request, the Park Service said the fees were dropped because the project was “clearly in the public interest and consistent with the purposes and values of the park area.” PEER argued the fees could only be dropped if the cable was for “ ...

Additionally, the Park Service “will have to spend millions to lay spurs to connect with the cable,” claims Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Yellowstone officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about PEER’s claims, which also question ...

The seminar seemed straightforward enough. Four experts planned to talk about whether artificial grass, which is used on playgrounds and sports fields nationwide, has health risks for children. But January’s seminar never happened, after the four speakers were sued for defamation by ...

Critics of the plan argue it could discourage international travel and unfairly affect visitors from lower-income countries. They also raise concerns about how such a policy would be implemented. Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), ...

But Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an employee association made up of federal, state and local government workers, on Wednesday called on acting U.S. Special Counsel Jamieson Greer to take action against the questionnaire. The group argued that the executive order ...

And groups representing employees in jobs related to environmental issues warned that OPM’s plan would shatter employees’ ability to pursue science in government. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility warned the rules could have a chilling effect on employees whose job is ...

“People thought I was going to come in like a hammer, basically, for EJ communities,” Rayasam said. “The first thing I would say to literally anybody is ‘You guys have a mountain of work, and I’m just here to try to figure out how to help you get it done. I&# ...

The Rice Lake office and an office in Mounds View, Minn., are both operated by the USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center. They are among the more than two dozen offices across the country DOGE has targeted for closure, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. USGS ...

Timothy Whitehouse, Executive Director of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, who previously discussed the situation with the Guardian, told Space.com that when exactly the “cuts would come into force is hard to tell.” “This administration ...

A Texas oil executive from Elon Musk’s government efficiency team has been given sweeping powers to overhaul the federal department that manages vast tracts of resource-rich public lands, but he hasn’t divested his energy investments or filed an ethics commitment to break ties with ...

Chemical companies and business groups with close ties to the administration have pushed back on the prospect of new PFAS regulations, which they say are contrary to the Trump administration’s deregulatory pledges. A slew of industry groups, for example, urged EPA last month to withdraw ...

News around public lands these days seems to revolve entirely around the Trump administration. In the case of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, many of the steps the administration is taking with the operational efficiencies of the National Park Service and other land ...

Already, the National Park Service has about one employee for every 17,000 visitors, said Timothy Whitehouse, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “They’re breaking the system,” he said. “They’re traumatizing the workforce.” Many worry ...

Turf is incredibly damaging to the ecosystem due to the harmful chemicals and microplastics it contains. “As it’s exposed to UV light, and abrasion, and slightly acidic rain, even more [perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances] will [leach] off,” said Kyla Bennett of ...

In 2023, NPS official Frank Lands explicitly ordered the mine to cease and desist any activities other than water quality monitoring. Now it has been given full permission by the BLM to resume its operation. “Mining is one of the most destructive land-based activities,” Jeff Ruch, ...

Kyla Bennett, the policy director with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and a former EPA scientist, said she suspects the agency and the justice department will, in effect, try to lose the case. “The DOJ could stop defending and do a shitty job and make the court ...