Support the EPA Office of Research and Development!

Jeremy P Koelmel, PhD
Jeremy P Koelmel, PhDMarch 25, 2025

I hope you are all faring as well as possible. I’m writing to ask for your immediate advocacy to help protect the US EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD).

Innovative Omics has worked closely with over 50 scientists at the Environmental Protection Agencies, Office of Research and Development (EPA, ORD), which provides cutting edge services to inform states, regulators (including the EPA), and other stakeholders with the information needed to continue to have access to clean air, water, soil, and food. The research scientists at the EPA are top of the field, and without them the EPA will no longer be able to protect the environment.

The New York Times reported on Monday (March 17, 2025) that US EPA ORD will be dismantled during upcoming mass layoffs within the agency. Right now the EPA Administrator is saying the decision to eliminate ORD is not final; this is where you come in. I’d like to tell you more about what ORD does, so you can best advocate for this office.

What is the ORD?

US EPA ORD provides science informing EPA policy decisions, or lack thereof. This office was established with the creation of the EPA itself in 1970. ORD exists because data derived from academic groups can lack the transparency and quality required to stand up in court. Data generated by contracting/consulting firms is extremely expensive, often 2-4x more costly to taxpayers as compared to in-house data. US EPA ORD follows strict scientific and quality assurance measures to ensure the best possible data goes into development of regulations. US EPA ORD is non-partisan, as the Office has no role in policy-making; the Office provides its data to other EPA offices and to States who then work with political appointees or other officials to enact or decline policy actions. US EPA ORD is also the “problem-solving branch” for the rest of EPA and for all 50 states, providing scientific expertise and analytical methods to address unwieldy environmental and public health issues. While accomplishing all this, ORD accounts for only 5% of the total EPA budget.

Some specific examples of activities conducted by US EPA ORD

  • ORD discovered the cause of lead contamination in Flint, Michigan, allowing the state and federal government to move forward on a solution
  • ORD is actively supporting clean-up and monitoring efforts around the LA wildfires
  • ORD is functionally the only arm of the federal government capable of carrying out non-targeted analysis to identify unknown and unregulated chemicals in food, water, and the environment.
    • Several other agencies have high-resolution mass spectrometry (state-of-the-art instruments for the unbiased detection of pollutants) instrumentation but lack the permission, expertise, or bandwidth to actively provide non-targeted analysis (NTA, the unbiased measurement and investigation of pollutants, covering million of known and unknown chemicals) data to States and communities
    • The ORD “waiting list” for this type of analysis is years long, as there are so many requests for NTA data and so few facilities capable of this analysis
    • I’m currently aware of only a few contract labs in the US offering PFAS suspect screening or true NTA/discovery analysis. They generally charge at least $1000 per sample
    • ORD’s targeted and non-targeted analysis capacity have played a foundational role in addressing PFAS issues around the country. For example:
      • ORD discovered GenX in Cape Fear River, SE North Carolina
      • ORD discovered Cl-PFPECAs in SW New Jersey
      • ORD discovered emerging PFAS in drinking water across the country
      • ORD actively working on developing analytical and data handling methods to characterize PFAS in air using non-targeted analysis
      • ORD is supporting drinking water providers around the country to test for unknown chemicals and providing technologies to remove known and unknown chemicals from drinking water
  • As PFAS producers continue to introduce new PFAS, ORD’s expertise identifying novel PFAS is vital to protect communities around the country from continued and emerging PFAS contamination

Call for Support!

Please consider using your voice to stand up for US EPA ORD and the capacity of this Office to address PFAS – this is a time-sensitive matter as EPA restructuring and mass layoffs are expected to be announced at any time.

Actionable steps

  1. Email and call political appointees within the EPA and tell them you value the work of ORD scientists.

  2. Call your elected officials

    • Emails from non-government emails may go to the junk folder of these officials. I highly suggest you call their office at  (202) 564-4700.

    • State your full name, email address, or phone number

    • State that you are a constituent; you may be asked for your address

    • Recommended talking points:

      • “I’m concerned about recent news indicating that US EPA ORD is going to be eliminated. I encourage [insert representative name] to ensure that changes to this scientific office are made following congressional law and on timelines that ensure key federal functions are not impacted. US EPA ORD provides critical science to EPA, other agencies, and to states, and this Office was established by Congress. Please work with other members of the legislature to ensure government efficiency efforts retain the skilled scientists of this office actively working to protect clean air and water for all US citizens”
      • Consider adding personal details about impacts in your local region.

    • If you call on nights or weekends and leave a voicemail, your opinion will still be registered if you include your contact information

    • If you call during business hours, you’ll likely talk to a junior staff member. Remember to be kind! These are often young adults just out of college who have a pretty tough job wrangling people on the phone

    • How to find the contact information for your elected officials:

Letters to Send to Heads of the EPA

Here are email templates you can use to contact various heads of the EPA to alert them about the importance of not dismantling the EPA ORD. Email links will be prepopulated the subject line “Budget reduction for the EPA: Information Regarding Eliminating the ORD”. You can copy and customize the letter below in the email body.

  • General email template – please take note of the following steps if used!
    • Replace [INSERT_EPA_ADMIN_NAME] with specfic EPA administrator’s name
    • Add your name to the sign off where it says [INSERT_YOUR_NAME]
    • Optional – customize the content as applicable

EPA Administrator Zeldin:

Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs

Assistant Deputy Administrator

Deputy Chief of Staff

Add your Name or Organization to a Signed Letter

Add your name or your organization’s name to a signed letter by April 7 urging U.S. leaders to reconsider these changes. The letter calls for responsible, evidence-based policies that prioritize long-term environmental integrity, economic stability and community well-being.

Sign the letter

By signing this letter, you’re joining a growing coalition of scientists, organizations and concerned individuals committed to protecting the role of science and science-based decision-making. You can also help strengthen this effort by sharing the letter with your colleagues and networks.

Update the Call for Support

If you want to edit the call for support here is a link to our working document.

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