Regional offices of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are bracing for possible structural changes that could come by the end of the year.

The EPA is moving forward with a reorganization of 10 of its regional offices to mirror EPA headquarters, Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced in a memo.

According to a Bloomberg Environment report, former EPA officials and current employees are wary the reorganization could give the Trump administration an opportunity to shrink the agency. “The effort could also allow political leadership a tighter rein over the regions—where approximately half of the agency’s career staff work and where much of the on-the-ground permit reviews, oversight and enforcement operations occur,” the report stated.

Bloomberg Environment has more details:

The EPA’s regional offices could see structural changes by year’s end, but the trickle-down effects—on enforcement, staff levels, and leadership—are already raising alarms among current and former workers.

The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward quickly with a reorganization of its 10 regional offices to minimize uncertainty for staff in those offices, Henry Darwin, the agency’s chief of operations and acting deputy administrator, told Bloomberg Environment.

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Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the effort, which will reshuffle the regional offices to mirror EPA headquarters, in a Sept. 6 memo.

Read the full article here.