About the Office of Policy (OP)

What We Do

The Office of Policy makes and coordinates EPA policy and decision-making in cooperation with colleagues agencywide. OP works jointly with specialized EPA offices to craft, review and promulgate regulations that protect human health and the environment. OP also oversees EPA’s crucial work in key areas, such as:

  • National Environmental Policy Act compliance.
  • Climate adaptation.
  • Environmental economics.
  • Permitting.
  • Industry stakeholder engagement.
  • Sustainability.
  • Community revitalization.
  • Voluntary consensus standards.

Our work directly supports the EPA’s public health and environmental protection mission. For example, the National Center for Environmental Economics helps keep polluters accountable by providing dollar estimates for the damages their pollution causes to the public and planet. Our Office of Regulatory and Policy Management works to ensure that EPA regulations support the needs of both public health and industry compliance.

Organization

  • Adriana Hochberg, Acting Associate Administrator
  • Navis Bermudez, Deputy Associate Administrator 
  • Michael Hardy, Deputy Associate Administrator
  • Josh Lewis, Chief of Staff
  • Marc Boom, Senior Advisor
  • Ebadullah Ebadi, Special Advisor
  • Eva Cappuccilli, Senior Communications Advisor 

Offices and Programs

National Center for Environmental Economics

What We Do

The National Center for Environmental Economics leads the Agency’s work in economic analysis. To inform the public and EPA decision-making, NCEE bases its work on the best available science. NCEE’s expert economists specialize in evaluating the economic costs, benefits, and impacts of proposed environmental regulations and policies on the national economy and society. NCEE also conducts new research and develops improved methods for measuring the economic consequences of environmental changes.

To view NCEE research, publications, and resources, please visit our Environmental Economics website.

  • Linking Science and Policy: NCEE works with Agency scientists to develop information on environmental risks. These efforts support economic analyses and policy that protect health and the environment. For example, NCEE collaborates with other Agency offices to analyze relationships between environmental pollution and human health, including characterizing morbidity risks to children and adults, as well as investigating the expected benefits of preventing prenatal risks from exposure to pollutants.
  • Supporting Environmental Economic Analysis across the Agency: NCEE promotes sound environmental economic and risk analysis, as well as analytic rigor and consistency across the Agency. NCEE helps review regulations with economic significance. NCEE also provides training and expertise on economic analysis, assessment of exposures and risks, quantitative uncertainty analysis, and related issues.
  • Promoting Consistent Economics: To promote analytical consistency and quality, NCEE works with economists from across the Agency to develop and continually update guidance materials, such as Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses and more specialized guidance documents, including:
  • Enhancing EPA's Economic Tools: NCEE develops data and methods for benefit and cost assessments by targeting priority needs across the Agency for research and analysis. NCEE promotes efforts across the Agency and elsewhere to improve the quality and reliability of economic methods, models, and information and analysis, and to keep EPA analysts abreast of advances in the field.
  • Connecting with Outside Experts on Priority Analytic Needs: NCEE communicates EPA’s priority needs to economists across the nation on economic research topics and opportunities to improve analytic methods used by EPA.  NCEE solicits outside advice to ensure that EPA analyses provide a complete accounting of the impacts of regulatory actions; this includes involuntary unemployment and distributional consequences. NCEE also seeks the best economy-wide modeling tools to assess the economic effects of environmental regulatory options, including methods designed to examine the distribution of regulatory burdens.

Programs and Projects Managed by NCEE

NCEE Leadership

  • Al McGartland, Director
  • Alex Marten, Associate Director
  • Brett Snyder, Director, Benefits Assessment and Methods Development Division
  • Jenny Bowen, Director, Research and Program Support Division

Contact NCEE

Office of Community Revitalization

What We Do

The Office of Community Revitalization empowers communities to develop and implement strategies that revitalize local economies and improve environmental and public health outcomes. OCR partners with other EPA programs and federal agencies to help achieve locally led, community-driven approaches to protecting air, land, and water, while supporting equitable economic revitalization.

Additionally, OCR’s collaborations with state, local, and tribal governments – including a wide array of nongovernmental private and public sector partners – provide technical assistance, capacity building, and training customized for a particular community or region. OCR designs and delivers workshops, products and tools based on the environmental challenges and opportunities communities face. 

Strategies and activities in support of local partners include: 

  1. Providing subject matter expertise, policy guidance, and technical assistance (per community request).
  2. Convening, collaborating, and communicating with networks to encourage ongoing growth and development in individual communities and the field as a whole.
  3. Gathering lessons learned and best practices through community engagement opportunities to model and share best practices that can be adapted to local needs.
  4. Developing research, case studies, publications and tools that lead to best practices towards community engagement and building equitable, sustainable communities.

To learn more about our work, visit our Smart Growth website.

Programs and Projects Managed by OCR

OCR Leadership

  • Nigel Fields, Director
  • Yvonne Gonzalez, Acting Associate Director
  • Adhir Kackar, Director, Federal and State Division
  • Mark Leeper, Director, Communities Assistance and Research Division

Office of Federal Activities

What We Do

The Office of Federal Activities coordinates EPA’s review of all federal environmental impact statements prepared by other agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act. OFA also coordinates EPA’s internal compliance with NEPA. OFA uses its expertise to help other agencies and the public understand how proposed federal government actions affect human health and the environment. OFA also leads and coordinates Agency-wide efforts to accelerate sound permitting decisions while protecting health and the environment.

  • NEPA Compliance Division: NCD oversees the agency’s NEPA compliance work. NCD’s efforts foster good governance by ensuring that federal agencies adhere to the “look before you leap” principle undergirding NEPA. Promoting good NEPA analysis helps prevent wasteful commitments of federal spending and actions with unexpected environmental downsides. Together with EPA headquarters and regional offices, NCD represents EPA to other federal agencies to implement the environmental requirements of NEPA and Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to comment on other agencies’ NEPA analyses. NCD’s work informs the public and helps to improve other agencies’ NEPA analysis.
  • Permitting Policy Division: PPD serves as the agency’s central point of contact for federal agencies on EPA-issued permits. PPD coordinates with EPA’s three major permitting offices (Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Water, and Office of Land and Emergency Management) and EPA's ten regional offices to streamline permit issuance and foster consistency and timeliness. PPD provides direction and coordination for the EPA’s permitting activities through the following responsibilities:
    • Leads the identification and tracking of common permit performance measures to guide coordinated cycle time reduction and consistency efforts.
    • Increases transparency and accountability across all EPA permit programs.
    • Serves as the EPA’s advocate and central point of contact for all federal agencies on EPA issued permits.
    • Promotes early coordination between the regulated community and state/federal permitting programs.
    • Oversees and tracks the timely and synchronized permit issuance within the environmental review process for Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST-41) projects.

Programs and Projects Managed by OFA

OFA Leadership

  • Prasad Chumble, Acting Director and Chief Environmental Review and Permitting Officer
  • Nancy Abrams, Associate Director and Chief Public Engagement Officer
  • Alaina McCurdy, Acting Director, Permitting Policy Division
  • Mark Austin, Acting Director, NEPA Compliance Division

Office of Regulatory Policy and Management

What We Do

Congress enacts laws to protect the environment and public health, and EPA issues regulations to carry out those laws. ORPM supports these efforts by managing the regulatory development process for the Agency. The Office of Regulatory Policy and Management guides and provides policy and analytical advice to EPA's program and regional offices as they develop public health and environmental regulations. ORPM also works to ensure EPA regulations comply with key statutes and Executive Orders relating to regulatory process and helps to promote analytical consistency and rigor across EPA’s regulatory portfolio. These functions are critical for EPA and the public to understand the impact of regulations on businesses, state and local governments, and individuals.

  • Policy and Regulatory Analysis: ORPM advises the Administrator and other senior Agency decision-makers on regulatory and policy development, manages the Agency’s policy priority agenda, conducts timely and effective policy analysis and helps ensure that EPA’s regulatory decision processes and actions are informed by high quality information. 
  • Regulatory Management: ORPM manages EPA’s action development and review process, provides comprehensive action development training for EPA staff and managers, and provides procedural and analytical support to help EPA consider the impact of its actions on small entities and state and local governments.
  • Small Business Advocacy Chair: ORPM’s Director serves as EPA’s Small Business Advocacy Chair. SBAC is responsible for guidance and oversight of the Agency’s implementation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and serves as the permanent chair of all Small Business Advocacy Review Panels.
  • Laws and Regulations: ORPM maintains the Laws and Regulations website, which provides general information about the laws we administer, the regulations we are developing, and how we write regulations.

Programs and Projects Managed by ORPM

ORPM Leadership

  • William Nickerson, Director
  • Bridgid Curry, Associate Director
  • Caryn Muellerleile, Director, Regulatory Management Division
  • Carolina Penalva-Arana, Director, Policy and Regulatory Analysis Division

Office of Climate Adaptation and Sustainability

What We Do

The Office of Climate Adaptation and Sustainability is OP's newest office. OCAS focuses broadly on the impacts of climate change on the environment and the sustainability of communities and businesses and leads ongoing efforts to coordinate across EPA and the federal government on these issues. OCAS also explores new opportunities to support climate adaptation and resilience capacity-building across the Agency and by communities and businesses.

  • Climate Resilience and Adaptation Division: CRAD coordinates the Agency’s work integrating climate adaptation planning into EPA programs, policies, rulemaking processes, enforcement actions and operations to ensure they are effective even as the climate changes. CRAD also integrates a whole-of-government approach towards climate adaptation, including through participation in cross- and inter-agency workgroups. Additionally, CRAD provides technical assistance to communities and Tribes, such as through the Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center, and engages with national, state, tribal and community organizations on climate adaptation and resilience issues. 
  • Climate and Sustainable Strategies Division: CSSD engages with trade associations, affinity groups and other organizations that represent a cross section of the American economy to address climate change and sustainability objectives. Additionally, CSSD addresses other climate change mitigation and climate adaptation and resilience challenges and environmental issues – including emerging issues of significance to the agency – that require interdisciplinary expertise and cross-sector, cross-media and interagency (whole-of-government) approaches.  CSSD supports leadership efforts on sustainability within EPA and develops partnerships with other government agencies, industry sectors, leading companies and other stakeholders, to advance EPA’s climate change mitigation priorities and sustainability objectives. CSSD also develops and implements cross-cutting and cross-media climate change mitigation and climate adaptation and resilience strategies with respect to: 
    • Economic and industrial sectors.
    • Sustainable buildings and communities.
    • Sustainable materials management.
    • Financial disclosure of climate-related and other environmental risks.
    • Communities with environmental justice concerns. 

Programs and Projects Managed by OCAS

OCAS Leadership

  • Ben DeAngelo, Office Director
  • Barry Elman, Director, Climate and Sustainable Strategies Division
  • Lori Cary-Kothera, Director, Climate Resilience and Adaptation Division

EPA's Standard Executive

What We Do

EPA’s Standards Executive ensures the Agency complies with the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act and related policies so that Agency actions take private sector standards — for example, voluntary consensus standards that improve water quality or protect building occupants from smoke — into account in rulemaking and policy development. Use of private sector standards in regulation, voluntary programs, research, and other activities helps the Agency achieve robust engagement with industry, academia, NGOs and others, harnessing partnerships that enhance public trust and lead to durable policies that enjoy broad consensus and buy-in.

EPA Standards Executive Contact

  • Elise Owen, EPA Standards Executive

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Last updated on November 26, 2024