"EPA: Hundreds Set To Leave Agency Via Buyout, Retirement"

"Hundreds of U.S. EPA employees are heading for the exits after the agency offered a round of buyout and early retirement packages.

An EPA official told E&E News that 362 employees have taken voluntary buyouts. Agency workers were expected to accept buyout offers by Sept. 2, but the official noted 45 other employees are still considering offers.

In addition, 12 employees retired on Aug. 31 and another 33 employees are retiring at the end of this month.

The EPA official said if all employees accept buyout offers and unrelated retirements move forward, the agency's employment level would be 14,428, meaning 452 workers would have left the agency. That's comparable to EPA's employment level at the end of the Reagan administration, when it had roughly 14,440 employees in fiscal 1988."

Niina Heikkinen, Kevin Bogardus, and Hannah Northey report for Greenwire September 6, 2017.