The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday informed union officials that it would terminate the contracts it signed with various labor partners effective immediately, making it the second agency to fully implement President Trump’s March executive order stripping most federal workers of their collective bargaining rights. … As part of the decision, the agency will no longer allow union officials to employ official time. … EPA also said it will “reclaim” office space previously occupied by unions and cease participating in arbitration proceedings—arbitrators will be paid only for “work performed to date” and their decisions are now deemed “nonbinding.”

Other EPA news:

• E&E News by Politico: Unions promise fight after EPA cancels contracts
• The Conversation: Blog: 4 laws that could stymie the Trump EPA’s plan to rescind the endangerment finding that underpins US climate policies
• Reuters: Opinion: How a retreat by the EPA would endanger the U.S. economy
• The Equation (Union of Concerned Scientists): Blog: Why the EPA’s latest move could worsen the climate crisis