Bill McMorris of the Washington Free Beacon reports good news for anyone concerned about regulatory overreach from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environmental Protection Agency has sent out more than 1,000 buy-out notices to its employees as Congress debates a $528 million budget cut, according to a union executive.

American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 Michael Mikulka said that 182 EPA employees in Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota have received notices seeking early retirement or buy-out options that would eliminate their positions within the agency. …

… The EPA defended the push for early retirement and buy-outs, saying that the move was necessary to preserve funding for vital agency programs, while saving taxpayer dollars. An agency spokesman said the EPA followed the model set forth by the Obama administration between December 2013 and April 2014.

“Streamlining and reorganizing is good government and important to maximizing taxpayer dollars. This includes looking at developing opportunities for individuals to retire early,” the spokesman said in an email. “It’s a process that mirrors what the Obama Administration EPA did about four years ago, to ensure that payroll expenses do not overtake funds used for vital programs to protect the environment.”

The agency declined to say how many people would be targeted by the notices or how many buy-outs and early retirements it hoped to achieve.

The agency was able to shed 456 employees at a cost of $16 million through early retirement and buy-out packages of $25,000 under the Obama program.