The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning a major reorganization of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) that includes consolidating several sections within the division into other DOJ divisions, as well as eliminating field offices.
The DOJ’s reorganization plan is outlined in a March 25 memorandum from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche entitled “Soliciting Feedback For Agency Reorganization Plan and RIF.” The memo summarizes the DOJ’s March 13 report to the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget about potential reorganizations and reductions in workforce (RIF) and solicited feedback from heads of department components by April 2. While the memo discusses proposals for reorganizing several offices, this post focuses on its impact on ENRD.
We previously reported about significant senior leadership changes among career civil service managers within various sections housed within ENRD, specifically the chiefs of the natural resources, environmental enforcement, environmental crimes, and appellate sections (see here). Those managers were offered new duties related to sanctuary city immigration work, though some chose to resign rather than accept the new duties. This new proposal moves towards more significant changes.
According to the memo, the plan would include consolidating civil appeals work currently performed within the ENRD’s civil appeals section into the DOJ Civil Division, and criminal appellate work currently within ENRD would be transferred to the US Attorneys’ Offices. The duties currently performed within the ENRD Law and Policy Section would be transferred into the DOJ Office of Legal Policy. The memo does not address changes specific to the enforcement, defense, or natural resources sections within ENRD. Nevertheless, these proposed changes represent the first significant restructuring of ENRD in decades, as various duties currently performed within ENRD are stripped away and performed elsewhere.
Regarding the field offices, those housing ENRD attorneys that would be closed under the proposal include Denver, Colorado, Sacramento, California, Seattle, Washington, and San Francisco, California. It is unclear if ENRD attorneys currently assigned to those offices would have the option of reassignment to another duty station.
It is also unclear from the memo if and when these various proposals would ultimately result in RIF. Nor is it apparent which of these proposals under consideration will ultimately occur. We will continue to monitor these developments as they unfold under the new Administration.
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