Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

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 and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other environmental statutes. The administrator is nominated by the president of the United States and must be confirmed by a vote of the Senate.

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Seal of the Environmental Protection Agency
Incumbent Lee Zeldin since January 29, 2025
Member of	Cabinet
Inaugural holder	William D. Ruckelshaus
Formation	1970
Website	www.epa.gov

Lee Zeldin is the current administrator of the EPA.^[1]

Rank in the Cabinet

Since the Clinton administration, the EPA administrator has been accorded cabinet rank by the president. The administrator of the EPA is equivalent to the position of minister of the environment 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:^[2]

  Denotes Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

No.	Officeholder		Term Start	Term End	Refs.	President(s)
1		William Ruckelshaus	December 4, 1970	April 30, 1973			Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
–		Robert W. Fri Acting	April 30, 1973	September 12, 1973
2		Russell E. Train	September 12, 1973	January 20, 1977
							Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
–		John Quarles Jr. Acting	January 21, 1977	March 6, 1977			Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
3		Douglas M. Costle	March 7, 1977	January 20, 1981
–		Steven Jellinek Acting	January 21, 1981	January 25, 1981			Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
–		Walter Barber Jr. Acting	January 25, 1981	May 19, 1981
4		Anne Gorsuch Burford	May 20, 1981	March 9, 1983
–		Lee Verstandig Acting	March 10, 1983	May 17, 1983
5		William Ruckelshaus	May 18, 1983	January 4, 1985
6		Lee M. Thomas	January 4, 1985	February 8, 1985
			February 8, 1985	January 20, 1989
–		John Moore Acting	January 20, 1989	February 6, 1989			George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
7		William K. Reilly	February 6, 1989	January 20, 1993
–		W. Michael McCabe Acting	January 20, 1993	January 31, 1993			Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
8		Carol Browner	January 31, 1993	January 20, 2001
9		Christine Todd Whitman	January 31, 2001	June 27, 2003			George W. Bush (2001–2009)
–		Linda Fisher Acting	June 27, 2003	July 14, 2003
–		Marianne Lamont Horinko Acting	July 14, 2003	November 5, 2003
10		Mike Leavitt	November 6, 2003	January 26, 2005
11		Stephen L. Johnson	January 26, 2005	May 2, 2005
			May 2, 2005	January 20, 2009
–		Granta Nakayama Acting	January 20, 2009	January 21, 2009			Barack Obama (2009–2017)
–		Mike Shapiro Acting	January 21, 2009	January 23, 2009
12		Lisa P. Jackson	January 23, 2009	February 15, 2013
–		Bob Perciasepe Acting	February 15, 2013	July 18, 2013
13		Gina McCarthy	July 18, 2013	January 20, 2017
–		Catherine McCabe Acting	January 20, 2017	February 17, 2017	[3]		Donald Trump (2017–2021)
14		Scott Pruitt	February 17, 2017	July 9, 2018	[4][5]
15		Andrew R. Wheeler	July 9, 2018	February 28, 2019
			February 28, 2019	January 20, 2021	[6]
–		Charlotte Bertrand Acting[a]	January 20, 2021	January 20, 2021			Joe Biden (2021–2025)
–		Jane Nishida Acting	January 20, 2021	March 11, 2021
16		Michael S. Regan	March 11, 2021	December 31, 2024	[9][10]
–		Jane Nishida Acting	January 1, 2025	January 20, 2025
–		James Payne Acting	January 20, 2025	January 29, 2025	[11]		Donald Trump (2025–present)
17		Lee Zeldin	January 29, 2025	present	[12]

1. Served as Acting Administrator in her capacity as Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water for a few hours following the conclusion of the term Andrew R. Wheeler at noon on January 20, 2021. President Joe Biden signed an executive order naming principal deputy assistant head of the Office of International and Tribal Affairs Jane Nishida as acting Administrator later that day.^[7][8]

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 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 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 January 20, 2017 – April 3, 2018
• Andrew R. Wheeler April 20, 2018 – February 28, 2019
• Henry Darwin July 9, 2018 – September 2019
• Janet McCabe 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^[13]

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:^[14]

1. Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
2. General Counsel
3. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management
4. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
5. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation
6. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water
7. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
8. Chief Financial Officer
9. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development
10. Assistant Administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs
11. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Administration and Resources Management
12. Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information
13. Regional Administrator, Region 7 (Kansas City, Kansas)
14. Principal Deputy General Counsel
15. Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
16. Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 2 (New York, New York)
17. Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 5 (Chicago, Illinois)

See also

• White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy
• Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry