EPA to furlough 89% of workforce if shutdown drags into November, Lee Zeldin says

WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has warned that his agency will have to furlough up to 89% of its more than 12,000-person workforce if the government shutdown lasts beyond this week.

Zeldin told reporters at the EPA’s headquarters in Washington, DC, Tuesday that 4,000 employees have already been furloughed — but officials have been able to prevent a more serious lapse in staffing due to “multi-year funding” keeping the agency afloat.

However, those efforts have stalled some significant projects, including the Brownfields Program to clean up land contaminated by pollutants or other hazardous substances.

The fate of proposed federal rules are also in limbo until the government reopens.

“We have a whole bunch of pots of carryover funding and as t