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

Release Date: 07/17/98
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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.


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