Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Sean Casten (IL-06)
July 16, 2025
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) led 16 House Democrats in submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for details of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s efforts to slow-walk the promulgation and enforcement of public health standards.
“At your January 16 confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, you pledged to be ‘transparent and accountable to Congress and the public,’” the lawmakers wrote. “In keeping with that commitment, please provide us with copies of the records requested below. Your response will help address our concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the President’s various executive orders and other actions.”
In their FOIA request, the lawmakers have demanded information on, among other things:
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The interest groups that Zeldin and other senior officials have met with and the lobbying documents they have provided;
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EPA’s current pace of inspections and enforcement, key metrics in assessing how the agency is fulfilling its responsibility of enforcing environmental laws and regulations;
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Any actual or proposed actions to expedite certain permits pursuant to the “emergency authority” of an executive order;
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The number of EPA’s public servants who have left or are leaving;
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The job classifications of the individuals installed in Zeldin’s front office; and
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The specific statutory provisions that authorize EPA to waive or modify otherwise-applicable requirements under existing federal laws, in following the president’s executive orders.
In addition to Rep. Casten, the request was signed by Reps. Jamie Raskin, Summer Lee, Lloyd Doggett, Delia Ramirez, Cleo Fields, Rashida Tlaib, Jan Schakowsky, Pramila Jayapal, Jesús G. “Chuy” García, Mike Quigley, Mark Takano, Sarah Elfreth, Troy Carter, Steve Cohen, and Jim McGovern.
A copy of the FOIA request can be found here. Text of the request is below.
Dear Administrator Zeldin,
At your January 16 confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, you pledged to be “transparent and accountable to Congress and the public.” In keeping with that commitment, please provide us with copies of the records requested below. Your response will help address our concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the President’s various executive orders and other actions. Freedom of Information Act Request Our specific requests for EPA records listed below are submitted pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 USC 552. For purposes of this request, “records” include reports, memoranda, power points, correspondence, or other responsive documents. At this time, we are not seeking copies of (a) emails that transmit, discuss or acknowledge receipt of the records requested; (b) draft or marked up versions of any document; (c) press clippings or any record of media coverage; or (d) any information that is exempt from disclosure under 42 USC 552(b), provided that EPA identifies the specific exemptions in that paragraph that justify withholding records responsive to this request.
We expect EPA to waive any fees associated with your response to our request, as disclosure will contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of a government agency and does not serve any private commercial interest.
A. Calendar for EPA Administrator and Other Political Appointees
Former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus released the so-called “fishbowl” memo in May 1983, which included a promise to make the meeting calendars for the Administrator, Deputy Administrator, Assistant, Associate and Regional Administrators, and Staff Office Directors publicly available by the end of each week.
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EPA provides online access to “simplified meeting calendars” for the Administrator, Regional Administrators, and other high-ranking officials at https://www.epa.gov/senior-leaders-calendars, but advises that a FOIA request is required to obtain the “official record” of such meetings. Please provide copies of the official record of all meetings between January 20 and July 15, 2025, for the Administrator, all Regional Administrators, and for Barry Breen, Kimberly Patrick, Maureen Gwinn, Chad McIntosh, Sarah Dunham, Gregg Tremi, Rick Keigwin, Jeffrey A. Hall, James Payne, Rafael DeLeon, and Peggy Browne.
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Please provide a copy of any analyses, power point presentations, charts, reports, letters, or other documents provided to the Office of the Administrator that were prepared by, or on behalf of, any individual or organization identified in the official record of your meeting calendar. You may exclude any confidential briefing materials prepared by any EPA employee.
B. EPA Workforce
The numerous announcements regarding the number of EPA employees terminated, rehired, retiring, accepting buyouts, or subject to actual or planned reductions in staffing have left Congress and the public confused about the actual size of EPA’s workforce and its capacity to carry out its mission.
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For each office, program or region that appears on EPA’s website at https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-organization-chart, please provide records that identify the total number of full time-equivalents (FTE) on EPA’s payroll as of July 15, 2025.
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For each office, program or region, please provide records that identify the number of FTE’s who:
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are on administrative leave because they have accepted buyouts and are expected to leave EPA on or before September 30, 2025;
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have been placed on administrative for any other reason;
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are still employed but have notified EPA of their intention to retire on or before September 30, 2025;
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are still employed, but will be terminated on or before September 30, 2025, due to planned reductions in enforce or the elimination of specific functions or programs; and
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have been hired since January 20, 2025, excluding any employees who were rehired after they were mistakenly terminated.
Please provide records that identify the number, name, and job classifications of individuals hired by the Office of the Administrator since January 20, 2025.
C. EPA Enforcement Actions
Federal environmental law directs EPA to notify sources violating permit or pollution control standards, as well as the relevant state agencies, and authorizes (and in some cases requires) EPA enforcement actions if needed to bring violators into compliance.
Please provide copies of the following records:
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Notices of noncompliance issued by EPA from January 1, 2024, to the present, including notices of violation, findings of violation, or warning letters;
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Civil complaints filed in federal court since January 1, 2023, for any cases that have not yet been resolved through litigation or an appropriate consent decree;
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Inspection reports completed since January 1, 2024;
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Information requests issued since January 1, 2024; and
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Administrative penalty orders that are still pending, i.e., have not been resolved through consent orders.
D. EPA Reports Required By Executive Order
The EPA and other federal agencies are required to report regularly on the actions they have taken to implement President Trump’s various executive orders. We request copies of the reports or records itemized below, along with any records of the analyses that EPA relied upon to prepare them.
Executive Order 14156: The Clean Water Act authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite the permitting of projects that may pollute wetlands or other waters during emergency situations that result in “…an unacceptable hazard to life, a significant loss of property, or an immediate, unforeseen, and significant economic hardship…” (33 C.F.R. 325.2(e)). Executive Order (EO) 14156, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency,” directs the EPA and other agencies to exercise this emergency permitting authority “…to the fullest extent possible…to facilitate the Nation’s energy supply”; to identify actual, planned or potential actions to implement this directive within 30 days (by February 19), and every thirty days thereafter to report on their status as well as any new opportunities to exercise this emergency authority.
Please provide a copy of:
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all reports that EPA has prepared and submitted in response to EO 14156; and
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any actual or potential actions to expedite permits pursuant to the emergency authority cited in EO 14156.
Executive Order 14154: EO 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” requires EPA and other Agencies to suspend, revise, or rescind “…all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders and any other actions…” that impose an undue burden on the “development and use” of fossil fuels, critical minerals, and other energy sources that do not include wind, solar power, or electric vehicles. Agencies must notify the Attorney General of any actions taken to implement this directive and within 30 days report to OMB as to whether reducing or eliminating enforcement could help to implement the President’s policy goals.
Please provide a copy of any record of:
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the EPA actions reported to the Attorney General under EO 14154;
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any report or other document provided to OMB regarding the actual or potential exercise of its enforcement authority under EO 14154; and
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for any federal law implemented in whole or in part by EPA, any records that interpret the specific statutory provisions that authorize the EPA to waive or modify otherwise applicable requirements.
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any guidance, memoranda, or policy issued by EPA that establish or explain the criteria for determing when a regulation, order, guidance, policy, settlement, consent order or “any other action” will pose an “undue burden” on the development or use of fossil fuels or critical minerals.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you have questions about the scope of this request or wish to discuss a schedule for response. Alternatively, your staff may contact Nikki Roy in my office (Nikki.Roy@mail.house.gov). Thank you for your attention to our request. We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
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