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PRESIDENT BUSH NOMINATES FORMER EPA OFFICIAL TO BE DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR; ALSO NAMES TWO NOMINEES TO BE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATORS

Release Date: 05/01/2001
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President Bush has nominated a former EPA Assistant Administrator, Linda J. Fisher, to be the Agency’s Deputy Administrator, a 20-year career EPA employee, Stephen L. Johnson, to be Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, and a former White House official, Jeffrey R. Holmstead, to be Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation. The U.S. Senate must confirm the nominees.

The President also announced his intention to nominate G. Tracy Mehan to be Assistant Administrator for Water.

Fisher previously served for ten years at EPA in several key managerial positions, including Chief of Staff, Assistant Administrator for Policy, Planning and Evaluation and Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. As Deputy Administrator she would be the top managerial and policy assistant to the Administrator. Most recently Fisher was Vice President of Government Affairs for the Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo. She also practiced law with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Latham and Watkins. Fisher, 48, holds a law degree from Ohio State University, a M.B.A. degree from George Washington University and a B.A. degree from Miami University of Ohio.

Johnson, who is currently acting Assistant Administrator, has responsibility for implementing the nation’s laws dealing with industrial chemicals, pesticides, pollution prevention and food safety. He has held several senior positions in the same program. Johnson, 50, holds a B.A. degree from Taylor University in Indiana and a M.S. degree from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He received the prestigious Presidential Rank Award for outstanding leadership at EPA in 1997.

Holmstead is currently a partner in the environmental department of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Latham and Watkins. He served in the White House under former President George H.W. Bush as Associate Counsel to the President and had, as his main focus, environmental law and policy and work with EPA on the implementation of the Clean Air Act 1990 amendments. In his Assistant Administrator role, Holmstead would be responsible for implementing the federal Clean Air Act, for developing and managing other Agency programs designed to protect air quality, and for working with other agencies on issues involving radiation. Holmstead, 40, is a native of Colorado and an alumnus of Brigham Young University and Yale Law School.

Mehan is a member of the cabinet of Michigan Governor John Engler and a former EPA official. In the Assistant Administrator position he would have responsibility for the management of programs, policies, standards and regulations relating to water matters. Currently, Mehan, 51, is director of Michigan’s Office of the Great Lakes. He previously served in the EPA Administrator’s office as the Associate Deputy Administrator and in Missouri as Director of the state Department of Natural Resources. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from St. Louis University.


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