But Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) lobbied Regan and the White House to instead select Shore. President Joe Biden cemented that choice on Tuesday.
“Debra’s knowledge and experience on water infrastructure issues, the impacts of climate change, and the protection of the Great Lakes will help her lead Region 5,” Regan said in a statement.
Shore said in a statement that she anticipated implementing Biden and Regan’s “bold plans to address climate change, to restore the agency’s foundational commitment to environmental justice and to ensure that decisions are made based on sound science and the law.”
Chesapeake chief: Biden also named one other regional administrator pick: Adam Ortiz to run the Philadelphia-based Region 3, which covers Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, D.C., Virginia and West Virginia. That puts Ortiz, a longtime Marylander, in charge of restoring the Chesapeake Bay, a bipartisan but contentious effort.
“I am grateful to have Adam’s leadership on critical matters in Region 3, including restoring and improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay, addressing water quality across the region, and ensuring robust engagement with diverse communities on issues ranging from agriculture to environmental justice,” Regan said in a statement.
Ortiz currently runs the Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Environmental Protection and ran a similar agency for Prince George’s County from 2012 to 2018.
Still to come: The Biden administration has not yet named regional administrators for EPA’s eight other regions or announced a timeline for doing so.
