EPA Spotlights a Leaner Agency: $30 Billion in Grants Canceled, 130 Experts Added to Clear Review Backlogs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on October 15 launched a new webpage and video detailing the agency's reform, reorganization and savings. The EPA said that since January 2025 it has cut costs across grants, contracts, staffing, real estate, technology and travel, including $30 billion in canceled grants, roughly $825 million a year in reduced contracting obligations, and about $750 million a year from staffing efficiencies and reorganization.
The reorganization created the Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions (OASES), added more than 130 scientific and technical experts to clear chemical and pesticide review backlogs, and set up a one-stop Office of Finance and Administration. The Superfund Solutions initiative, launched in May 2026, aims to move contaminated sites to completion faster.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency's budget had grown while its core statutory work fell behind, and that EPA is now delivering clean air, land and water faster while returning billions of dollars to taxpayers.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：环保署总部所在地阿里尔·里奥斯大楼，华盛顿特区。摄影：Kurt Kaiser，CC0，来源：Wikimedia Commons / Photo: The Ariel Rios Building, home of EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Credit: Kurt Kaiser, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
