EPA overhaul eyes young blood

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is getting ready to offer $25,000 buyouts and “early outs” to almost 1,400 employees in an attempt to overhaul its national workforce.

The workforce reduction comes in the face of hefty EPA budget cuts, limits on new hiring, and advances in technology, according to EENews.net. The EPA recently outlined—in paperwork submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management—how it intends to get rid of certain highly paid employees in favor of new, younger, cheaper ones.

“These changes are part of our effort to embrace [the] EPA as a high-performing organization,” said Bob Perciasepe, the EPA’s deputy administrator.

Specific aims include cutting 30 jobs in the agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, hiring more technologically savvy workers, and closing two of the EPA’s four Biological and Economic Analysis Division labs.