Thousands of employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are lobbying this week for Congress to address staffing issues that they say are limiting their ability to meaningfully carry out the Biden administration's ambitious climate goals.
Leaders of AFGE Council 238, a union representing roughly half of the EPA's 14,000-member workforce, said in a memo that non competitive salaries and a lack of career development opportunities are fueling attrition and overburdening staff. Congress could address these issues by expanding the EPA's funding in the annual appropriations legislation, which it will write later this year. Failure to do so, the union warned, will jeopardize the implementation of President Joe Biden's two major legislative achievements — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
