Providing an Order of Succession Within the Environmental Protection Agency
Signed: January 8, 2021
Published: January 15, 2021
Document Number: 2021-01094
📋Summary
This executive order sets a new line of succession for who will temporarily lead the Environmental Protection Agency if both the EPA Administrator and Deputy Administrator are unable to serve (for example, due to death, resignation, or incapacity). It affects senior EPA leadership by listing, in order, which officials would act as Administrator, starting with the General Counsel and then several Assistant Administrators, the Chief Financial Officer, certain deputy officials, and specific Region VIII leaders. It requires that anyone stepping in must be eligible under federal vacancies rules and cannot be someone who is only serving in their current role on an acting basis. It also allows the President to choose a different acting Administrator where the law permits, and it revokes the prior EPA succession order from 2017.
💼Business Impact
This order mainly affects businesses that depend on EPA permitting, enforcement discretion, or rulemaking timelines—especially energy and utilities, manufacturing/chemicals, waste management and remediation, mining, and any company with significant air, water, or hazardous waste obligations. It doesn’t create new environmental compliance duties, but it can change the *pace and priorities* of EPA decisions during leadership vacancies by clarifying who will serve as Acting Administrator (notably elevating legal, land/waste, toxics, air, water, and enforcement leaders), which can influence enforcement posture and permitting/rulemaking continuity. Compliance-wise, expect fewer “decision gaps” during transitions; opportunities include faster resolution of pending permits, settlements, or guidance requests if leadership continuity improves, but also potential for quicker enforcement actions if the succession lands with enforcement-focused leadership. Immediate actions: identify any EPA-dependent items in your pipeline (Title V/NSR permits, NPDES, TSCA reviews, RCRA corrective action, Superfund/Brownfields, consent decrees), confirm your regulatory calendars and reporting are current, and proactively engage your EPA regional office/project managers to lock in timelines and document positions in writing in case priorities shift under an acting Administrator.
Full Text
Executive Order 13973 of January 8, 2021
Providing an Order of Succession Within the Environmental Protection Agency
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq. (the “Act”), it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1 . Order of Succession. Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order, and to the limitations set forth in the Act, the following officials of the Environmental Protection Agency, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Administrator) during any period in which the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Administrator:
(a) General Counsel;
(b) Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste (also known as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management);
(c) Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances (also known as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention);
(d) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation;
(e) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water;
(f) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance;
(g) Chief Financial Officer;
(h) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development;
(i) Assistant Administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs;
(j) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Mission Support;
(k) Associate Deputy Administrator for Programs;
(l) Associate Deputy Administrator;
(m) Regional Administrator, Region VIII;
(n) Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Mission Support;
(o) Deputy Regional Administrator, Region VIII;
(p) Principal Deputy General Counsel; and
(q) Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Sec. 2 . Exceptions. (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1(a)-(q) of this order in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Administrator pursuant to this order.
(b) No individual listed in section 1(a)-(q) of this order shall act as Administrator unless that individual is otherwise eligible to so serve under the Act. ( printed page 3734)
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this order in designating an acting Administrator.
Sec. 3 . Revocation. Executive Order 13763 of January 13, 2017 (Providing an Order of Succession Within the Environmental Protection Agency), is hereby revoked.
Sec. 4 . General Provision. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 8, 2021.