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Lands used for livestock grazing in health spiral, greens say

by E&E News | March 27, 2026
The watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility highlighted the declining health of rangelands in a new analysis Thursday based on data compiled by the Bureau of Land Management. “These numbers reveal a landscape under pressure,” Chandra Rosenthal, PEER’s Western ...

Trump EPA relied on industry science to weaken formaldehyde cancer rules, documents show

by | March 27, 2026
“The [formaldehyde] regulatory changes are happening at Beck and Dekleva’s direction, with their direct oversight and supervision, and with their approval of the final language,” said Kyla Bennett, a former EPA scientist now with the Public Employees for Responsibility non-profit. It ...

As Rangeland Health Declines, BLM Stops Monitoring

by Ark Valley Voice | March 26, 2026
It appears that the Trump administration no longer wants to monitor the health of these landscapes, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Statistics compiled from scientific assessments by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) show that the percentage of ...

100 days to 250 years, with 350 million invited

by Roll Call | March 26, 2026
America250 has received nearly $80 million from Congress since fiscal 2019, including $15 million in each of the past four years, according to the group’s latest annual report, and the Republican budget reconciliation law known as the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” allocated $150 million ...

‘Cancer is in the back of every firefighters mind.’ Quincy approves $2.65 million for PFAS-free equipment.

by The Boston Globe | March 25, 2026
Research has shown that the “forever chemicals” can be extremely toxic even at low levels, putting firefighters at risk, according to Kyla Bennett, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility in New England. Read the PEER Story… ...

Nantucket is weighing a ban on artificial turf fields. Are they safe for children?

by The Boston Globe | March 19, 2026
But Kyla Bennett, director of science policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an advocacy group, cited a report provided to the Board of Health that tested samples of the proposed turf system. It found “trace concentrations” of forever chemicals PFBA and PFOA, ...

Sewage sludge battle heats up as health advocates appeal move to dismiss EPA lawsuit

by The New Lede | March 18, 2026
Over the 33 years the provision has been in place, the EPA has never used its biennial sewage sludge review process to identify toxic pollutants requiring regulation and to then regulate those harmful chemicals, PEER said in its appeal filed with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ...

After Trump’s Interior Secretary Transferred Thousands of Staff to His Office, Chaos Followed, Former Workers Say

by Inside Climate News | March 17, 2026
But Interior staff reorganized into Burgum’s office who later left say they encountered a hostile, inefficient work culture designed to push people out. Russell Vought, the powerful director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, said in a private speech between Trump’s two ...

Zeldin disciplined EPA dissenters after ethics office found no ‘concern’

by E&E News | March 12, 2026
After reviewing the emails, Joanna Citron Day, general counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said Fugh was “right that there’s no ethics issue.” “This was a bunch of employees expressing their protected First Amendment right to dissent by signing a ...

‘Forever chemicals’ found in vegetables from Long Island farm stands: study

by The Suffolk Times | March 11, 2026
Kyla Bennett, science policy director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said PFAS contain extremely strong carbon-fluorine bonds that allow them to persist in the environment for decades. “PFAS are synthetic; they’re all man-made,” Ms. Bennett said. “So ...

PFAS pesticide residues found on 37% of conventionally grown California produce

by The New Lede | March 11, 2026
Independent testing results released in a separate analysis this week by the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) found multiple PFAS chemicals in the weed killer Indaziflam (sold as Rejuvra), which is applied to farm fields to control invasive grasses. The ...

Trump’s EPA Claims Strong Enforcement. But the Data Tells a Different Story.

by Inside Climate News | March 10, 2026
“This is a release that is propaganda,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and a former senior enforcement attorney at the EPA. “It doesn’t reflect reality in a number of ways.” One example: The EPA has stopped enforcing ...

Trump EPA touts enforcement. Ex-staffers credit Biden.

by | March 9, 2026
Yet organizations such as the Environmental Integrity Project and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility already released their own reports on declining EPA enforcement under Trump. The latter warned about a “collapse” in civil enforcement. PEER Executive Director Tim ...

The fight for the heart of the US Environmental Protection Agency

by Grist | March 8, 2026
Other organizations are taking their action to the next level: court. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, for example, is stepping up to defend federal workers in and out of the courtroom. At the core of any functioning scientific workforce is the capacity to ...

Randall’s Island’s Artificial Turf Problem

by The Indypendent | March 7, 2026
“It’s incredibly dangerous to the players, the community and the Earth,” said Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit organization supporting “current and former public employees who seek a higher standard of ...

‘Fundamental conflict’: Ethics holds on Trump EPA chemicals officials lift

by E&E News | March 6, 2026
Others had a different assessment. Kyla Bennett, science policy director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the ethics rules “were put there for a reason” and “should be mandatory.” “The ethics office hands out these waivers like candy on Halloween,” ...

PFAS found in all produce samples tested from Long Island farms, new study finds

by Riverhead Local | March 6, 2026
PFAS — short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are often called “forever chemicals” because they do not readily break down in the environment. Kyla Bennett, science policy director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the chemicals share an extremely ...

Employee groups revive lawsuit to block Schedule F

by Government Executive | March 6, 2026
On Wednesday, the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the AFL-CIO, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Democracy Forward filed an amended complaint in their lawsuit challenging Schedule Policy/ ...

Unions sue over Trump’s efforts to nix federal worker job protections

by Reuters | March 4, 2026
The lawsuit was originally filed last year by nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an advocacy group for government whistleblowers, to challenge Trump’s order. The case was stayed pending OPM’s rulemaking. Four unions joined PEER in the amended complaint ...

Lawsuit contends Schedule Policy/Career exceeds presidential authority

by Federal News Network | March 4, 2026
The revised lawsuit expands on previous legal actions from the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, along with the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the American Federation of Labor and ...