Richard W. Lozier Jr. (born January 2, 1944) in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, is an American infrastructure and regulation lawyer. He worked for a lobby group representing

Energy Transfer Partners Energy Transfer LP is an American company engaged in the pipeline transportation, storage, and terminaling for natural gas, crude oil, NGLs, refined products and liquid natural gas. It is organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in ...

interests in the application for the controversial Bakken pipeline. He became a commissioner of the Iowa Utilities Board in 2017 and served until April 2023.

Early life and education

Richard W. Lozier Jr was born in

. He attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1966 and a Juris Doctor in 1969. He attended Exeter University, Exeter, England and was a Phi Delta Phi Secretary from 1968 until 1969.

Career

From 1969 until 1971 Lozier worked as a Special Agent for the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. Since 1969, he has worked at Belin Lamson McCormick Zumbach Flynn, law firm, Iowa. From 1986 to 1987 he was Polk County President, from 1976 to 1985 member of the

Standards Committee The Commons Select Committee on Standards is appointed by the House of Commons to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. History The committee was created on 13 December 2012 as one half of the replacements for the Commi ...

, from 1987 to 1991 member of the

Board of Governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

, Iowa State and the American Bar Associations. He represented the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now (MAIN Coalition), a lobby group in the Dakota Access application for the Bakken pipeline. In 2017, then governor

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is a retired American politician who served as the 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa (1983–1999; 2011–2017) and the United States ambassador to China (2017–2020). A member of the Repu ...

appointed him as a member of the Iowa Utilities Board. He was subsequently asked to recuse himself for the evident

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

. In June 2017, Lozier recused himself, leaving only two committee members to vote on matters. Lozier´s IUB term expired in May 2023; it is unclear, why. As he was appointed by former governor Branstad, who has been working for the Summit Agricultural Group, which is seeking a permit for carbon capture pipeline to North Dakota he had a perceived conflict of interest, but he "at least had an open mind about this case", as critics have noted.

References

1944 births University of Iowa alumni Living people {{Improve categories, date=September 2023