As the new Trump administration takes charge, many federal agencies, including the U.S. EPA, have reportedly been ordered to pause certain external communications until new leadership teams are in place. On Jan. 24, E&E News by Politico reported that, according to an internal EPA email obtained by the news organization, “EPA’s public affairs office told staff there is ‘a hold’ on the agency sending out press releases and posting on social media.” In response to Politico’s story, an EPA spokesperson stated that they were still sending out some press releases and social media posts, but Politico noted that as of Jan. 24, only two press releases had been issued since Inauguration Day, whereas EPA typically issues multiple press releases a day and posts widely on social media.

On the same day, InsideEPA.com also reported that Acting EPA Administrator James Payne had issued a directive via email to agency supervisors prohibiting all EPA staff from communicating with external parties, with a narrow set of exceptions, including:

1. Communications with state and federal agencies, as long as enforcement matters are not discussed;
2. Communications needed to facilitate imports; and
3. EPA inspectors can keep conducting inspections.

According to Inside EPA, the purpose of the directive was “to provide time to allow the new Trump political team to get up to speed ahead of the Senate confirmation vote for Administrator-Designee Lee Zeldin.” The Inside EPA article further noted a number of external EPA meetings and settlement negotiations that had reportedly been canceled or postponed as a result of this directive.

Communication freezes have become a relatively common feature during presidential administration transitions. For example, in January 2017, the New York Times reported that the first Trump administration issued a memo to the EPA banning press releases, blog updates, or posts to the agency’s social media accounts while also temporarily suspending all new business activities at the department, such as issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. That communication shutdown lasted a week. However, longtime employees of three agencies interviewed in 2017 said such orders were “standard practice” and “not much different from those delivered by the Obama administration as it shifted policies from the departing George W. Bush administration.” Still, it remains to be seen if this most recent EPA communications slowdown is broader in scope or just business as usual.

This current EPA communication freeze comes in the wake of another one reportedly issued by acting Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Dorothy Fink on Jan. 21, ordering the heads of department offices to refrain from most external communications, such as issuing policy documents, public speaking engagements and other communications, until a presidential appointee can approve the action. HHS has also canceled scientific and other meetings of its various offices and divisions, including the National Institutes of Health. The health department prohibition on external communications remains in effect until Feb. 1.

What is Not Happening

Although state environmental agencies implement many EPA programs, the communications slowdown at EPA does not affect communications between state agencies and external parties. This means state environmental agencies can continue to freely communicate with parties subject to environmental regulations on the state and federal levels. Importantly though, certain matters that state environmental agencies are handling may require EPA approval or oversight, so these matters may be slowed until EPA communications resume their usual course.

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Attorneys in Taft’s Environmental practice group are closely monitoring these developments and the presidential transition. For help navigating these issues, contact Taft attorneys for assistance.