EPA extends third instance of resignation postponement to select staff members
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a third round of voluntary separation incentives, known as DRP 3.0, as part of ongoing plans to reduce staffing at the agency.
The program, which allows eligible employees to receive continued pay during extended administrative leave, aims to achieve staffing reductions while providing financial incentives for voluntary departures. However, the program operates outside of the standard legal frameworks that regulate voluntary separation incentives and administrative leave for federal employees.
Eligible EPA employees can apply for the DRP 3.0 from this Friday until July 25. Employees in the Office of Mission Support, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of Research and Development, and regional offices are eligible to apply for the latest round of separation incentives.
However, not all positions are eligible for the DRP 3.0. Credentialed inspectors, Criminal Investigation Division agents, and criminal enforcement counselors are not eligible for the program. Additionally, employees in environmental justice positions received reduction-in-force notices and will be officially separated from the EPA on July 31. Rehired annuitants and phased retirees are also not eligible for these incentives.
The EPA is also making changes to its office space in the national capital region, impacting about 650 employees. The agency is planning to move personnel out of the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C. by this summer.
The EPA's fiscal 2026 budget proposal calls for a 54% cut to current spending levels and cutting nearly 1,300 positions from its workforce. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee is moving ahead with a spending bill that would cut the EPA's current $9.13 billion by 23% next year.
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[1] Legal concerns regarding the DRP 3.0 program have been raised due to its provision of up to eight months of administrative leave, which greatly exceeds the statutory limit of 10 workdays per year for administrative leave, and the payments having raised questions about whether such payments are lawful salary expenditures, as participants receive pay without performing work. This has resulted in critiques that the DRP payments may violate legal doctrines on necessary expenses and statutory limits on administrative leave.
- The DRP 3.0 program, providing up to eight months of administrative leave, has sparked legal concerns as it exceeds the statutory limit of 10 workdays per year for administrative leave in federal workforce.
- The new office space arrangements in the national capital region will affect around 650 EPA employees, who are scheduled to leave the Ronald Reagan Building by this summer.
- The reimagined workforce in the federal EPA includes various departments such as the Office of Mission Support, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of Research and Development, and regional offices, but not all positions are eligible for the DRP 3.0.
- As the EPA's budget proposal for fiscal 2026 calls for a 54% reduction in spending, and cutting nearly 1,300 positions, there is a growing emphasis on personal-finance and budgeting skills within the EPA's workforce, especially considering the impacts of climate-change on environmental-science and finance.
