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W. Michael McCabe is an American policy advisor specializing in environmental and energy policy. He had previously served as a Regional Administrator, and later Deputy Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), being the only person in the Agency's history to serve as both. Between 2003 and 2006, McCabe consulted for
DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
and led DuPont’s defense against an EPA lawsuit of the toxic PFAS chemical PFOA. In November 2020 he was named a volunteer member of the
Joe Biden presidential transition The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...
Agency Review Team.


Early life and education

McCabe graduated from
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
, dual majoring in political science and sociology. He was secretary of the Student Union, and served on the Major Attractions and Major Speakers committees.


Career

McCabe first served as a policy advisor to
Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...
's successful 1974 Senate campaign. From 1975 to 1976, McCabe served as legislative assistant to the Senator, specializing in environmental and
energy policy Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contri ...
, including the promotion of energy efficiency and
renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
. From 1976 to 1979, he also served as Staff Director of the bipartisan Congressional Environmental and Energy Study Conference. In 1980, McCabe organized and directed the national commemoration of the tenth anniversary of
Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...
. From 1981 to 1985, he served as Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy Conservation and Power Subcommittee. From 1987 to 1995, McCabe was Senator Joe Biden's Communications and Projects Director serving as a senior advisor on Delaware issues. In 1995, McCabe was appointed by
President Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again f ...
as the Regional Administrator of the EPA Middle Atlantic Region. As regional administrator, and in cooperation with governors and senior state officials, McCabe directed the implementation of federal environmental programs in the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. In 1997, he successfully levied a fine of $12.6 million against Smithfield Foods of Virginia for 6,900 violations of the
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 responsibiliti ...
. The company had been found to have been discharging illegal levels of slaughterhouse waste into Virginia's Pagan River. He was nominated as Deputy Administrator of the EPA by President Clinton in 1999 and appointed to that position in 2000. He left that job on January 31, 2001, after briefly serving as Acting Administrator during the transition to the Administration of President George W. Bush. McCabe started a consulting company, McCabe & Associates LLC, in 1996, registered in Delaware. From 2003 until at least 2006, McCabe worked as a consultant for
DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
, consulting for the company during an EPA investigation into the chemical PFOA. In 2007,
Rob Bilott Robert Bilott (born August 2, 1965) is an American environmental attorney from Cincinnati, Ohio. Bilott is known for the lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs injured by waste dumped in rural communities in West Virginia. Bilott has spe ...
sued
DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
over PFOA contamination and McCabe was deposed in court by Bilott because of McCabe's previous work with DuPont. In the fall of 2008, McCabe joined the Obama/Biden presidential transition team as leader of the group charged with identifying top environmental and energy appointments in the new administration. In 2009, McCabe was appointed by the New Jersey Superior Court to oversee the cleanup of 20 contaminated chromium sites located in low-income communities in Hudson County, New Jersey. For six years he served as independent Site Administrator for the Chromium Cleanup Partnership, a cooperative effort between the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the government of
Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.PPG, responsible for cleanup of toxic waste from a
brownfield site In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...
where PPG had previously operated a
chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...
processing facility. His tenure in this position resulted in more than 1,000,000 tons of contaminated soil and waste being safely removed for future development. McCabe is currently the Principal at McCabe & Associates, a private consulting firm addressing energy and environmental policies based in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. In November 2020, McCabe was named a volunteer member of the
Joe Biden presidential transition The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...
Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In response to an email from The Intercept about McCabe's work for DuPont, Biden's transition team stated that McCabe has recused himself from any matters involving the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, and was committed to not taking a role in the Biden administration. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich called on Biden to "do the right thing" by creating an EPA transition team based on science, and not from the guidance of an "industry insider."Erin Brockovich on Biden pick: The fox is in the henhouse
''CNN'', 20 November 2020


Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccabe, W. Michael Living people Administrators of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Clinton administration personnel Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Year of birth missing (living people)