One-Year 
and Two-Year Bar On Communication With EPA
For one year after leaving federal service, former "senior employees” cannot knowingly make, with the intent to influence, any communication to or appearance before their former agency (for us, that’s EPA). This prohibition, also known as the “cooling off period,” applies if the appearance is made on behalf of another person in connection with any matter in which the former senior employee seeks official action by EPA. Please note that the restriction will apply to “any” matter, which is much broader than any “particular matter involving specific parties.”
Example: You leave EPA to go to work for a private company. To celebrate your joining the firm, they offer to host a welcome reception in your honor and suggest that you invite your former EPA colleagues, including the Administrator. You should not contact the Administrator’s scheduler to determine when to hold the event so that she will be able to attend. That would be considered making a communication to an EPA official (the scheduler) with the intent to influence official action (the Administrator’s calendar) on behalf of another (the company).
