The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

(EPA), and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's

Clean Air Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

and

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

s, as well as numerous other environmental statutes. The administrator is nominated by the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

and must be confirmed by a vote of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Lee Zeldin Lee Michael Zeldin (born January 30, 1980) is an American attorney, politician, and officer in the United States Army Reserve who has been serving as the 17th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since January 29, 2025. A m ...

is the current administrator of the EPA.

Rank in the Cabinet

Since the Clinton administration, the EPA administrator has been accorded

cabinet rank The ministerial ranking, Cabinet ranking, order of precedence in Cabinet or order of precedence of ministers is the "pecking order" or relative importance of senior ministers in the UK government. Use The ministerial ranking is said by Peter ...

by the president. The administrator of the EPA is equivalent to the position of

minister of the environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

in other countries. There have been various proposals to make the EPA a full executive department.

List of administrators

The following persons served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency:

List of deputy administrators

* Robert W. Fri June 14, 1971 – April 29, 1973 * John R. Quarles Jr. April 29, 1973 – January 20, 1977 * Barbara Blum March 7, 1977 – January 20, 1981 * John W. Hernandez Jr. May 20, 1981 – March 25, 1983 * Alvin L. Alm August 5, 1983 – May 9, 1985 * A. James Barnes May 10, 1985 – August 14, 1988 * John A. Moore (Acting) August 15, 1988 – January 20, 1989
(Acting) February 5, 1989 – May 18, 1989 * F. Henry Habicht II May 19, 1989 – January 20, 1993 * Jonathan Z. Cannon (Acting) March 8, 1993 – May 9, 1993 *

Robert M. Sussman The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air Act (United States), Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as ...

May 10, 1993 – October 17, 1994 * Fred Hansen October 18, 1994 – September 30, 1998 * Peter D. Robertson (Acting) October 1, 1998 – December 7, 1999 * W. Michael McCabe (Acting) December 8, 1999 – August 5, 2000
August 6, 2000 – January 19, 2001 * Linda Fisher May 31, 2001 – June 27, 2003 * Stephen L. Johnson (Acting) July 12, 2003 – August 1, 2004
August 2, 2004 – January 26, 2005 * Marcus Peacock August 8, 2005 – January 20, 2009 *

Scott Fulton Scott Fulton (born 7 March 1973) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and the son of the rugby league Immortal Bob Fulton. Fulton made his first-grade debut seven days after his 20th birthday, starting at hooker for the Manly Warri ...

February 4, 2009 – December 24, 2009 * Bob Perciasepe December 24, 2009 – August 8, 2014 * Lisa Feldt (Acting) August 8, 2014 – October 7, 2014 * Stan Meiburg (Acting) October 7, 2014 – January 20, 2017 *

Mike Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born 24 December 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 24th U.S. national security advisor for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports tha ...

January 20, 2017 – April 3, 2018 * Andrew R. Wheeler April 20, 2018 – February 28, 2019 * Henry Darwin July 9, 2018 – September 2019 *

Janet McCabe Janet Garvin McCabe is an American attorney and academic who served as the deputy administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from April 29, 2021 to October 4, 2024. Education McCabe earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and ...

April 29, 2021 – October 4, 2024 * Jane Nishida (Acting) October 5, 2024 - December 31, 2024 * Dan Utech (Acting) January 1, 2025 - January 20, 2025 * Chad MacIntosh (Acting) January 20, 2025 - ''Present'' * David Fotouhi March 2025

Acting administrators

Acting administrators usually assume the office in the interim period between the resignation of a previous administrator and the confirmation of his or her successor, including during the transition period between two presidential administrations, before the successor has been nominated and confirmed. Acting administrators come from within the EPA and usually hold an office that is subject to Senate confirmation before becoming the acting administrator. Linda Fisher and Stephen L. Johnson had served as Deputy Administrator when they became acting administrator. Marianne Lamont Horinko was an assistant administrator at the time. They are not subject to Senate confirmation to serve as the acting administrator, though to continue to serve as a full-fledged administrator (as in the case of Lee M. Thomas or Stephen L. Johnson), they must be confirmed by the Senate.

Line of succession

The line of succession for the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is as follows: #Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency #General Counsel #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance #Chief Financial Officer #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development #Assistant Administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Administration and Resources Management #Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information #Regional Administrator, Region 7 (

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

) #Principal Deputy General Counsel #Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance #Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 2 (

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

) #Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 5 (

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

)

References

* {{EPA Administrators of the United States Environmental Protection Agency