For more than half a century, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development, or ORD, has furnished the EPA with independent research on everything from ozone pollution to pesticides like glyphosate. Last week, after months of speculation and denial, the EPA officially confirmed that it is eliminating its research division and slashing thousands more employees from its payroll in the agency’s quest to cut 23 percent of its workforce. … ORD science has underpinned many of the EPA’s restrictions on contaminants in air, water, and soil, and formed the basis for regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS or “forever chemicals,” in drinking water, deadly fine particulate matter in air, carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, and chemicals and metals like asbestos and lead.

Other EPA news:

• NPR: Trump administration shuts down EPA’s scientific research arm
• Inside Climate News: Dismantling of EPA’s scientific research arm fulfills key chemical industry goal
• The New Lede: Q&A: A feared return to the “dark ages of science” seen in EPA’s dismantling of research unit
• E&E News by Politico: Trump admin fights historic fluoride ruling