The Trump administration is dismantling the EPA’s environmental justice office, threatening pollution protections and climate funding for some Michigan communities.
More than 160 EPA environmental justice staffers are on leave. More than 200 staffers work for the office, which was combined with two others in 2022. The move stalls Michigan’s $81.7 million in climate grants, including $46.2 million for Detroit. Projects like as resiliency hubs, clean ports, and pollution monitoring will be affected.
Adrienne Hollis of the National Wildlife Federation says the office’s impact will remain despite the changes.
“Just because someone has decided that these are going to be defunct or go away, they’re not going to go away,” Hollis said. “They’re just not going to be as visible, but they’re not going to be buried. Nobody’s going to let that happen. The situations that created in the first place still exist.”
Established by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, the office has led more than 300 civil rights compliance reviews since 2014, including two in Michigan.
The Trump administration has halted all environmental litigation in the Justice Department, citing its commitment to Trump’s campaign pledge to reduce the federal government’s size.
