Louisiana's environmental agency has cut its staff by nearly a quarter over the past 15 years, one of the sharpest reductions for state pollution regulators nationwide, according to a new report from the watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project.

The state has also slashed funding for the agency by 26% over the same time period, according to the report, which warns of the growing risk of severely weakened environmental enforcement both locally and nationally.

The reductions at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality are part of a larger national trend, the report concluded. The watchdog group examined budgets of environmental agencies across all 50 states from 2010 to 2024, and found that more than half cut budgets and nearly two-thirds reduced department staffing.

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