EPA Unilaterally Imposes New Union Contract Slashing Telework, Easing Firing
From: Government Executive “The Environmental Protection Agency has cut off negotiations with its primary union and informed the labor group it will unilaterally implement a new contract, stripping away many of the rights and privileges employees currently enjoy and setting up yet ...
With New ‘Imposed Contract,’ Trump’s EPA Tries to Neuter Worker Rights
From: Common Dreams “The Trump administration continued its attacks on federal workers this week with a new “agreement” that would kneecap the power of unions representing EPA employees. The development, as watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility ...
Critics slam EPA for rolling back union protections with latest contract
From: The Hill “In an email sent to agency staff earlier this week and obtained by The Hill late Tuesday, the agency announced it will implement a new contract that remains unsigned by the union itself. “It’s styled as a collective bargaining agreement, but there’s no agreement ...
New EPA rule could expand number of Trump officials weighing in on FOIA requests
From: The Hill ““It’s exceptionally difficult to litigate on the ‘basis of responsiveness.’ There is no record,” said Kevin Bell, staff counsel at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “FOIA litigation is always pretty one-sided, there is no discovery … now ...
Trump Administration Is Suppressing Science and Public Opinion to Drill the Arctic Refuge
From: Center for American Progress “In December 2018, the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The review was criticized for being ...
‘Failing and struggling’: How financial decisions hobbled the National Bison Range
From: The Missoulian “A 10-month investigation by the Missoulian charted a years-long funding crunch at this group of National Wildlife Refuges, one that began when the Fish and Wildlife Service kept $624,076 intended for the Bison Range Complex at its Denver Regional Office. Fish ...
National Bison Range faces detailed planning process
From: The Missoulian “The plan for the Bison Range was mandated by a 2017 legal settlement between Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The planning process typically takes three to five years. But the Fish and Wildlife ...
Why DC pledges to test all playgrounds for toxic lead after prior ABC7 investigation
From: WJLA “There’s a lot at stake. In addition to lead poisoning which we’ve all seen the very tragic effects all over the country when we look at all the public outrage that happened with Flint Michigan with the water,” said Kevin Bell with PEER. Public Employees for ...
The Energy 202: Congress wants to know when Trump will fill all the vacant positions at Interior
From: The Washington Post “Many of the posts have been left unoccupied for so long that they are weighing on the mood of career staff. “We know that morale is very poor,” said Peter Jenkins, a senior counsel at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), an ...
OAHS Artificial Turf Replacement Set for This Summer in Easton
From: Wicked Local Easton “Work is expected to begin on replacement of the artificial turf and track at Oliver Ames High School towards the end of June. The project should be completed by around Aug. 23. After a lengthy discussion with parents concerned about possible health risks ...
Government Watchdog Says State, DEP Misleading Public About Drinking Water Quality
From: Naples Daily News “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, released a report last week that says more than half of the state’s drinking water facilities have violations that aren’t being reported to the public by the Florida Department of ...
Trump’s Latest Government Overhaul Aims to Cut Advisory Panels by One-Third
From: CNN “President Donald Trump on Friday announced plans to slash the formal system for advising regulators on nearly every area of federal policy. The President signed an executive order directing each agency to “terminate at least one-third of its current” advisory ...
House Dems Push Trump to Fill High-Level Interior Vacancies
From: The Hill “Fifty-nine percent of key [Interior] positions have yet to be filled; fewer than half of those vacant even have a nominee awaiting Senate approval,” Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote in a letter to President Trump ...
Federal Managers who Try to Protect Public Lands Face Threats and Violence. Here’s What Makes That Much Worse.
From: The Washington Post “Recently, the federal Bureau of Land Management fired a longtime employee, allegedly for blowing the whistle on the Trump administration’s refusal to enforce grazing policies on federal lands. The former employee, Craig Hoover, reported that agency ...
Number of Criminal Environmental Cases Referred to DOJ by Interior at Nearly 25-Year Low
From: The Hill “The number of criminal environmental enforcement cases brought by the Interior Department has decreased by nearly 40 percent since 2016, according to internal data shared with The Hill. Criminal environmental cases that often deal with unlicensed big-game hunting, ...
Ethics Group Goes After Interior for Sidestepping Senate When Filling Posts
From: The Hill “An environmental group filed a complaint against the Department of the Interior on Tuesday, saying the agency shuffled controversial employees into roles without Senate confirmation. A May 23 order from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt slotted people into various ...
Trump’s EPA Is Letting “Forever Chemicals” Into Our Food, Experts Say
From: Truth Out “A growing chorus of environmental groups and public health experts are slamming the Trump administration for its milquetoast response to the widespread problem of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of toxic “forever chemicals” that are linked to ...
Public Lands Critic to Oversee Fish, Wildlife and Parks
From: Environment News Service “Putting Karen Budd-Falen in this position is like putting Genghis Khan in charge of a day care center,” said PEER Senior Counsel Peter Jenkins, pointing out that she was previously slotted into an Interior deputy solicitor job that required no Senate ...
Trump’s Insidious War on Climate and Science
From: Times Free Press “George Luber is a national award winner for his work on climate change and health questions. He also is an internationally recognized epidemiologist, and until last year he headed the climate and health program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...
Whistleblower: BLM Ignores IIlegal Grazing After Bundy Fiasco
From: E&E News “Hoover alleges that BLM’s decision to fire him was “improper retaliation” for an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint he filed last year and for “disclosing illegal grazing and other activities by one of its permittees, who was ...
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