Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

peer.org

Whistleblower Organizations United States

Description

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, known as PEER, supports current and former public employees who work in environmental protection, land management, science and other civil service roles. These employees want to uphold environmental laws, ethics and scientific integrity within their agencies. It describes itself as a service organization for these professionals and works with employees at the federal, state, local and tribal levels of government in the United States. Its main office is in Silver Spring, Maryland.

PEER helps its clients by defending whistleblowers, exposing improper or illegal government actions, and pushing to improve laws and regulations. It supports other organizations working on similar issues. All services to clients are provided free of charge, and communications with PEER are described as confidential. The organization also lets public employees act as anonymous parties, so that agencies must respond to the substance of a complaint rather than to the individual raising it.

Legal assistance is offered when needed to defend and strengthen the rights of public employees who speak out on natural resource management and environmental protection. Beyond casework, PEER organizes support among employees across agencies, monitors government agencies on behalf of the public interest, and informs the administration, Congress, state officials, the media and the public about environmental, natural resource and public health issues.

Its stated areas of work include climate and energy, enforcement of environmental law, government transparency measures such as the Freedom of Information Act, protection of parks and public lands, protection of public employees, public health issues such as PFAS and chemical safety, scientific integrity, water and wetlands protection, and wildlife protection. It publishes press releases, commentary and other newsroom content on these topics and maintains a legal resource center. PEER is organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.