United States: Top Management Changes at Region 5 - New Directors Named for Air, Superfund and Waste Divisions – New Regional Counsel Expected

Steve Rothblatt was recently named Director of the Air and Radiation Division. This position had previously been filled by a series of acting directors, following the elevation of previous Air Director Barat Mathur to the position of Deputy Regional Administrator two years ago. Mr. Rothblatt has already served in this position on an acting basis, and is a recognized authority in U.S. EPA’s air programs.

Mr. Rothblatt’s priorities for 2004 include working with states to speed up the pace of issuance of Title V permits, and designation of attainment and nonattainment areas for the new fine particulate ("PM 2.5") standard, as well as the new 8 Hour Ozone standard. He also intends to work closely with municipalities on homeland security monitoring, and promotion of pollution prevention activities.

Mr. Rothblatt expects to pursue strong compliance assurance and enforcement efforts. One particular area of interest will be compliance with new Maximum Achievable Control Technology ("MACT") standards in a variety of industries, i.e., aluminum recycling, pharmaceuticals, metal coatings and others.

Rick Karl was recently named Acting Director of the Superfund Division, following long-time Superfund Chief William Muno’s temporary reassignment to assist the Regional Administrator with special projects, until his retirement from U.S. EPA this spring, after more than 30 years of service. Mr. Karl has served at U.S. EPA for 24 years, 17 of them in the Region 5 Superfund Division, and most recently as Chief of the Emergency Response Branch. Mr. Karl will continue to make the "polluter pays" principal the hallmark of the Region 5 Superfund program.

Private party contributions to Region 5 Superfund cleanups currently average 90% - a success rate that the Region wishes to maintain. The Region views this as critical, in light of dwindling Superfund resources, and increased identification of contaminated sites which lack viable private parties to fund site cleanup. This priority is demonstrated by the recent increase in the percentage of funds received from private parties for Non – National Priorities List ("NPL") removal actions – 51% in 2003, up from 9.5% in 1996.

Other priorities for the Region 5 Superfund Division for 2004 will be NPL site construction completions, Brownfields redevelopment, and homeland security issues, with special emphasis on the Emergency Response Team’s ability to timely respond to potential biological, chemical and radiological based acts of domestic terrorism.

Margaret Guerriero was recently named Director of the Waste, Pesticides and Toxics Division, replacing Robert Springer, who has been reassigned from Region 5, to lead the national Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA") program at U.S. EPA Headquarters. Ms. Guerriero has previously served in a variety of management positions, including Acting Director of the Air and Radiation Division. One of her priorities for the Waste Division will be to attack the backlog of RCRA corrective action sites in Region 5, to meet the goal of achieving 95% cleanup (attaining environmental indicator standards for protection of human health, and containment of contaminated groundwater) of all high-risk sites by the end of FY 2005. While this goal is ambitious, Ms. Guerriero believes that Region 5 is on track to meet it. She plans to work closely with the Superfund program to focus on Brownfields redevelopment.

Ms. Guerriero intends to work with states, local governments and industry to focus on improvements in resource conservation and materials management, in order to minimize the amount of non-hazardous waste entering the waste stream. She also plans to encourage pollution prevention activity, and closely scrutinize Toxics Release Inventory ("TRI") data, as a means of generally reducing the amount of toxics in the Region.

Finally, Ms. Guerriero supports enforcement as a tool for improving environmental outcomes. She expects to see an increase in resources directed to focused enforcement initiatives.

Bertram Frey is currently serving as Acting Regional Counsel, following the retirement of longtime Regional Counsel Gail Ginsberg, and Acting Regional Counsel David Ullrich. Mr. Frey will serve in this capacity until a permanent replacement is named in several months, following a national search. Mr. Frey is actively seeking the position on a permanent basis.

Region 5 has historically been the most active and aggressive U.S. EPA Region in the national environmental enforcement arena. Following five years of relatively flat resources, the Region 5 Office of Regional Counsel ("ORC") was able to hire 11 new enforcement attorneys in 2003. The ORC currently has 110 full time attorneys, who manage approximately 2200 cases at various stages of development, ranging from investigations, to monitoring compliance with existing Consent Decrees. The Region 5 ORC also is currently managing 150 criminal cases, again at various stages of development.

Subject to oversight and guidance from U.S. EPA Headquarters, Region 5 can be expected to proceed with enforcement on a level generally consistent with recent years, across all media, under all enforcement authorities. Region 5 expects a particular emphasis on Clean Water Act compliance issues, and wastewater treatment plants in particular. While proposed changes to the federal New Source Review ("NSR") regulations (and legal challenges to the proposed changes) have caused some uncertainty as to the near term future of NSR enforcement at the federal level, Region 5 sources expect to continue to pursue enforcement of the Clean Air Act in areas of the Act not affected by the controversial proposed rule changes.

Copyright 2004 Gardner Carton & Douglas

This article is not intended as legal advice, which may often turn on specific facts. Readers should seek specific legal advice before acting with regard to the subjects mentioned here.