Environmental Protection Agency employees who work in the environmental justice and civil rights office expect a new round of paid leave notices that will impact even more federal workers, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

In an email obtained by NPR, employees at EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights were told they were on administrative leave, effective immediately.

EPA leadership put 168 employees involved with the agency’s environmental justice work on administrative leave Thursday. That effort, which was housed in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights created by the Biden administration in 2022,