Environmental Protection Agency, Assistant Administrator for Water

Department/Agency: Environmental Protection Agency

Position:

Assistant Administrator for Water

Executive Schedule: Executive Level IV - Presidential Appointment with Senate Confirmation

Major Responsibilities:

Improve safety and cleanliness of water in watersheds, wetlands, oceans, for drinking, fishing, animal habitats, and recreation
Preserve and increase wetlands
Promote water conservation
Bolster water treatment facilities in cooperation with states and municipalities
Restore polluted waters using a watershed approach

Key Competencies and Preferred Qualifications:

Ability to collaborate with a large and diverse network of agencies and organizations.

Experience in environmental policy and law.

Understanding of marine science.

Insight:

The Office of Water is one of the Environmental Protection Agency's most important branches. The assistant administrator for water holds a broad portfolio aimed at safeguarding the quality of the water Americans drink and protecting the aquatic ecosystems that provide the water on which life and livelihoods depend.

The Office of Water (OW) is responsible for implementing the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, and portions of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Ocean Dumping Ban Act, Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, Shore Protection Act, Marine Plastics Pollution Research and Control Act, London Dumping Convention, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and other statutes. The Office of Water's proposed budget of $2.5 billion for fiscal 2009 represented 35 percent of the entire EPA budget.

President Barack Obama, new EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and whomever they choose for assistant administrator for water are likely to revisit the Bush administration's controversial decision not to restrict how much perchlorate - a chemical from rocket fuels -- is allowed in drinking water. Perchlorate was detected in 4 percent of some 3,865 public water supplies that EPA tested from 2001 to 2005. When perchlorate finds its way into the water supply, it can cause hypothyroidism in pregnant women and their babies. But after extensive study, and reportedly under pressure from the Bush White House and the Pentagon, the EPA announced in October 2008 that it would not impose a national standard on perchlorate in drinking water. The agency said its preliminary review of the scientific data indicated that the levels were not a concern in over 99 percent of public drinking water, and there was no "meaningful opportunity for risk reduction." On his way out the door, Benjamin Grumbles, assistant secretary for water for the final five years of the George W. Bush administration, said that the agency would seek further advice from the National Academy of Science before making a final determination. He called that "a sensible step for protecting public health and preserving regulatory options as the science of perchlorate is reviewed."

The perchlorate safety issue already had been under review for six years.

The Washington Post, in an earlier report, said White House officials had "extensively edited" the EPA's preliminary regulatory determination. The newspaper said the level of perchlorate that the EPA considered allowable in 2008 was 15 times higher than what the agency had suggested in 2002, before the Bush administration's Office of Management and Budget raised the bar on new safety regulations. "A nationwide cleanup could cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars, and several defense contractors have threatened to sue the Defense Department to help pay for it if one is required," the Post reported.

Another pending issue for the new administration involves how to safeguard the water supply while using new carbon capture and storage technologies that envision injecting carbon dioxide from coal-burning plants deep into the subsurface of the earth instead of venting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The EPA proposed a rule in July 2008 for this "geological sequestration" of carbon dioxide. Under the Bush administration, the agency projected that the rule would not be finalized before 2010, but that timetable could change under the new administration.

Cleaner water is one of the hallmark achievements of the Environmental Protection Agency, which President Richard M. Nixon and Congress created in 1970. Industrial waste and sewage sludge is no longer dumped into coastal waters, as they once were, and the nation has invested $75 billion-plus on municipal sewage treatment facilities since the passage of the original Clean Water Act in 1972. The EPA issues the permits that allows those facilities to operate. The Office of Water also deals with contaminants from abandoned mines, pharmaceuticals and runoffs from agricultural waste. The EPA says its standards have reduced industrial discharges by 90 percent, and 60 to 70 percent of rivers, estuaries and lakes now meet clean water standards. "Fish are coming back, the rate at which wetland habitats are lost has been slowed and many miles of formerly contaminated beaches are now safe for swimmers," the agency says.

But many waters and waterways remain fouled. "Significant risks to our waters remain. Some of the risks include difficult and controversial regulatory problems such as pollutant runoff from agricultural lands and storm water flows from cities, seepage into ground water" and the loss of wetlands, EPA said. "Though fisheries have come back, we cannot always eat what we catch because fish flesh is contaminated by the remaining discharges and sources of toxic substances. Microbial contamination of drinking water still presents problems in many communities."

The goals for clean and safe water under the EPA's strategic plan for 2006-2011 "include improving compliance with drinking water standards, maintaining safe water quality at public beaches, restoring more than 2,000 polluted water bodies, and improving the health of coastal waters." Among the major waters and waterways targeted for action are the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, the Columbia River Basin, Puget Sound and Long Island Sound. The Office of Water has five major components: American Indian Environmental Office; Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds; Office of Science and Technology; Office of Wastewater Management; and the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.

Grumbles, in an October speech in Chicago, said that climate change "jeopardizes much of the success in restoring water quality and protecting drinking water over the past 35 years" and poses problems "that have staggering, negative implications for the health of aquatic ecosystems."

Acid drainage from abandoned mines is another major headache. "There are over half a million abandoned mines nationwide, most of which are former hard rock mines located in the Western states, which are among the largest sources of pollution degrading water quality in the United States," Grumbles told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in March 2008. "Acid mine drainage from these abandoned mines has polluted thousands of miles of streams and rivers, as well as ground water, posing serious risks to human health, wildlife, and the environment." He advocated legislation making it easier for good Samaritans to clean up mines without exposing themselves to liability.

All these problems must be confronted by the Obama administration as it seeks to shore up the environment and the economy.

Key Relationships – Within the Government:

Administrator and Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
Associate Administrator for Policy, Economics and Innovation, EPA
Assistant Administrator, Solid Waste and Emergency Response, EPA
Associate Director, Natural Resources, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Policy, OMB
Assistant Secretary, Fish, Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of Interior
Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works, U.S. Department of Defense
Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA
Chief Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey

Key Relationships – Outside the Government:

National Association of Clean Water Agencies
Natural Resources Defense Council
National Wildlife Federation
National Audubon Society
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Working Group
Food & Water Watch
American Chemistry Council
American Farm Bureau and other agriculture groups
National Association of Manufacturers
American Water Works Association
Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators
Ground Water Protection Council
Water Environment Federation
National Environmental Health Association
National Rural Water Association

Nomination Referred to:

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

Current Position Profile:
1. Peter S. Silva (Confirmed: July 10, 2009). Senior Policy Advisor, Board of Directors, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Former Vice Chair, Water Resources Control Board, Environmental Protection Agency, State of California. Former Deputy Manager, Border Environment Cooperation Commission.

Recent Position Profiles:

2. Benjamin H. Grumbles, J.D. (2004-2009). Former deputy assistant administrator for water. Deputy chief of staff and environmental counsel, House Committee on Science. Senior counsel, House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on water resources and the environment.

3. G. Tracy Mehan (2001-2003). Former director of Michigan's Office of the Great Lakes and director of Missouri's Department of Natural Resources.

4. J. Charles Fox (1998-2001). Former chief of staff for assistant administrator for water. Assistant secretary and chief operating officer of Maryland Department of the Environment.

5. Robert Perciasepe, M.A. (1993-1998). Also served as EPA assistant administrator for air and radiation. Former Maryland secretary of the Environment. Now chief operating officer for National Audubon Society.