U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Submits Freedom of Information Act Request Regarding Deployment
March 11, 2026
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (“PEER”) issued a March 5th news release stating that it filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests with the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) seeking:
… records related to how the agency is deploying artificial intelligence tools within its workforce and regulatory programs.
PEER states that the FOIA requests were filed through counsel at the Free Information Group.
PEER describes itself as a service organization for environmental and health professionals, land managers, scientists, enforcement officers, and other civil servants dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values.
PEER’s objective for submission of the FOIA requests is stated to be clarity on:
… whether and how AI systems are being used to analyze employee communications, report on anti-Trump sentiment, and assist in evaluating chemical safety and other regulatory determinations.
PEER’s FOIA requests are stated to be specifically seeking:
- Records related to any integration of external AI tools, including Grok or xAI, into EPA’s Microsoft 365 or Teams systems;
- Any keyword alert lists, sentiment markers, configuration files, or compliance dashboards used to analyze employee communications;
- AI-generated reports or dashboards categorizing or scoring employees based on “ideological neutrality,” “agency alignment,” or similar metrics;
- A suite of records relating to EPA chemical assessments and the use of AI, including AI screening tools on 7 chemicals; and
- Correspondence involving senior EPA leadership and the Chief AI Officer concerning AI deployment in workforce monitoring or regulatory contexts.
A copy of the news release can be found here.
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