WASHINGTON— An analysis of staff records at the Environmental Protection Agency shows a loss of 1,560 positions, or about 10% of the workforce, as of the end of April. The Center for Biological Diversity, which received the records after a Freedom of Information Act request, compared the EPA staff directories from 2024 to this year.

So far the Trump administration has publicly announced plans to fire nearly 300 staff working on DEI or environmental justice issues at the end of July. These records show that a major reorganization has already taken place at the agency behind the scenes.

“The EPA can’t protect American health while losing 10% of its staff in a matter of months. And more firings are planned by the Trump administration,” said Ivan Ditmars, associate attorney at the Center. “Without the scientists and researchers to maintain strong health and environmental standards, polluters will profit while the rest of us suffer from dirtier air and water. As Trump stops policing pollution, we can expect more asthma attacks, lead contamination and all the other harms that EPA experts strive to prevent.”

EPA records show a list of more than 17,700 employees in 2024, compared to nearly 16,200 employees at the end of April. The agency has not revealed which divisions have been most affected by the staff reductions.

Other estimates of the EPA’s staffing numbers have focused on its “core workforce” but the new records appear to cover much or all of the agency’s entire staff.

The speed of the almost 10% cut in staffing is unprecedented. Past declines under Reagan, Bush and the first Trump administration were much more gradual.

“Past cuts hurt the EPA a lot, but at least they occurred slowly enough that the agency had time to adapt. Trump is now pushing people out in as many ways as possible as quickly as possible,” Ditmars said.

Since the start of Trump’s second term, the Center has submitted numerous FOIA requests seeking information on the administration’s mass firings and anti-regulatory plans. In cases in which the Trump administration ignores the requests, the Center has sued for the public records.

FOIA is meant to ensure public access to information about the functioning of federal agencies by guaranteeing a response within 20 business days of a request.