New AA appointments at EPA

["MICHAEL W. MURRAY" <MURRAY@nwf.org>]

Apologies for cross-postings.

New EPA Assistant Administrators appointments in Water and Air and Radiation below. One can hope that Bob Perciasepe's appointment in Air and Radiation will help the Agency better integrate the air and water programs to more efficiently deal with intermedia transfer of pollutants.
    Mike Murray
    NWF
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!PR/NEW EPA AA NAMED FOR AIR AND WATER PROGRAMS AND ADMIN./SCROLL
FOR RELEASE:  FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1998

              NEW EPA ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATORS NAMED FOR 
               AIR AND WATER PROGRAMS AND ADMINISTRATION 
                                    

     President Clinton today announced his intent to nominate J. 
Charles Fox to be Assistant Administrator for Water and Romulo L. 
Diaz, Jr. to be Assistant Administrator for Administration and 
Resources Management at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA).  Fox currently is Associate Administrator for EPA's Office of 
Reinvention.  Diaz has been Director of the Office of Regulatory 
Coordination at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) since 1995.  
     Also announced today was the appointment of Robert Perciasepe as 
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation. He currently serves as 
Assistant Administrator for Water.

      "EPA is fortunate to have in its ranks leaders like Bob 
Perciasepe and Chuck Fox to continue the progress made by the Clinton 
Administration in improving the nation's air and water, and to have a 
highly qualified manager, Romulo Diaz, join us from the Department of 
Energy." said EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner. "They are proven 
leaders who are committed to protecting public health and the 
environment. Their vision and expertise will benefit the work of the 
agency."

     Perciasepe has managed the Agency's water program, with a budget 
of $2.6 billion and 2,680 employees, since October 1993.  In that 
period, there have been significant water quality protection 
milestones, including the reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water 
Act.  Perciasepe also spearheaded the development of the Clinton 
Administration's Clean Water Action Plan which has refocused the 
national water program toward watershed management in its effort to 
finish the job of cleaning up the nation's rivers, lakes and streams.

     From January 1991 to August 1993, Perciasepe was Maryland's 
Secretary of Environment, directing all aspects of pollution control 
and environmental protection in the state.   During his tenure as 
Secretary, Perciasepe helped establish the Northeast Ozone Transport 
Commission and served as its first chairman.  Prior to becoming 
Secretary, he served as the state agency's Deputy Secretary from 1989 
to 1991 and Assistant Secretary for Planning and Capital Programs from 
1987 to 1989.  Before his tenure  at the Maryland state agency, he 
held several high level positions during his 11 years of work with the 
City of Baltimore, including serving as Assistant Director of 
Planning.  He also has held positions with county and regional 
planning agencies in New York state. He is an alumnus of Cornell 
University and received a master's degree in planning from the Maxwell 
School of Syracuse University.
                                   
     As head of the Office of Reinvention since February 1997, Fox 
helped lead EPA's efforts to make environmental regulation less 
burdensome and more protective through common-sense, cost-effective 
 reforms.  Through these efforts, EPA has streamlined regulatory 
paperwork to save the regulated community more than 20 million hours 
in reporting requirements. At the same time, the Agency has pioneered 
new programs like the Common Sense Initiative and Project XL, which 
involve working with various stakeholders to find better ways to 
protect public health and the environment at less cost. 

     Fox served as Chief of Staff for the Agency's Office of Water and 
as a Special Assistant to Administrator Browner from 1993 to 1995, 
when he became Assistant Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the 
Maryland Department of the Environment, with responsibilities for air 
and water pollution control, wetlands protection, waste management and 
mining.  Fox has served on the boards of directors of several 
environmental organizations.  He is an alumnus of the University of 
Wisconsin in Madison.

     In the two years prior to his current job, Diaz served as Deputy 
Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Secretary of Energy, and as the 
DOE Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs. From January 
1981 to December 1992, he was the Director for International 
Operations in the DOE Office of Emergency Planning and Operations.  He 
chaired the NATO Petroleum Planning Committee from 1992 to 1996.  He 
worked in a variety of legal and legislative positions at the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission and the Federal Power Commission, as well 
as DOE, from 1972 to 1981.

     Diaz received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University 
of Texas and has studied at the Kennedy School of Government at 
Harvard University. 

                    
R-94                          ###