New leaders at EPA

In this article, I profile three lawyers nominated to senior leadership positions at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each of whom I had the privilege of working with during President Trump’s previous term. All three—David Fotouhi, Jessica Kramer, and Aaron Szabo—had significant environmental roles during that prior term.

This is a new generation of 21st century environmental legal leaders, with all three graduating from law school since 2009. All bring considerable and invaluable experience to their roles. They also have the tremendous advantage of prior experience working for either EPA or the president’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and their broad and varied experience will be incredibly valuable to the new administration. 

David Fotouhi has been nominated to be EPA’s deputy administrator, the second highest official at the Agency. Fotouhi recently had his confirmation hearing before the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW). During the prior Trump administration, Fotouhi served as deputy general counsel, principal deputy general counsel, and then finally acting general counsel of EPA. Fotouhi currently is a partner at Gibson Dunn in Washington, D.C., where he worked before his first stint at EPA. During his prior tenure at EPA, he played a key role in every major rulemaking and all litigation involving the Agency. With the major developments in implementing and interpreting environmental law over the past several years, a deep understanding of the environmental statutes, together with the ability to develop and implement an effective legal strategy, is critical to EPA’s ability to implement the president’s policies and goals. Fotouhi brings a sharp focus and intensity to his analysis of complex legal issues that should serve his new role well.

Jessica Kramer has been nominated to serve as the assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Water (Water). Kramer brings her deep and varied environmental legal and administrative experience to lead the Water office. During the first Trump administration, she served in the Office of Water as senior policy counsel to the assistant administrator, working on agency actions under the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act, as well as coordinating agency actions related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). After leaving EPA, she served as water policy counsel to EPW for a short time. She then served as senior policy advisor and counsel at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP in Washington, D.C., where she worked with clients in the energy, environment, and natural resources fields. But she was soon tapped by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to be the deputy secretary of Regulatory Programs for Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, serving in that position beginning in February 2023. Before Kramer joined EPA the first time, she was an assistant attorney general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice in the Environmental Protection Unit, where she prosecuted violations referred to the attorney general by state environmental regulatory agencies and served as a defense attorney in suits brought against the state. The Water office faces the largest number of the most pressing and significant issues of any of EPA offices. Her prior experience will help her chart a course for her office and the Agency through the numerous Clean Water Act challenges facing EPA, such as the wastewater permitting standard in the aftermath of the Maui decision, setting water quality standards for PFAS, and once again attempting to define one of the most vexing terms in the CWA: “waters of the United States.”

Aaron Szabo has been nominated to serve as the assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (Air). He joined Fotouhi at a recent confirmation hearing before the EPW. During the first Trump administration, Szabo served as a senior counsel in the CEQ. Prior to his time at CEQ, Szabo worked for the Office of Management and Budget, in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which plays a critical role in coordination of all federal agency rulemakings. Szabo began working for OIRA before joining the first Trump administration. Prior to OIRA, he served as a financial analyst and then later as an attorney at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. After leaving CEQ, Szabo worked for the CGCN firm and now works for Faegre Drinker Biddle Reath in Washington, D.C. Szabo brings a very deep understanding of how the White House works with the administrative agencies to implement the president’s policies. Comparatively few environmental lawyers get to see the internal dynamics of the intra-agency process that goes on with respect to administrative rulemakings. It is a simplified and frequently incorrect assumption that because all the agencies headed by cabinet secretaries work for the president, there should be rapid alignment on policy. Szabo’s office must address the most politicized of all environmental issues—climate change regulation—where his prior experience at CEQ and OIRA working with other federal agencies with their own roles and perspectives on climate change will serve him well.