In an October 27 staff memo, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced the pending November retirement of current Office of Water deputy assistant administrator, Ken Kopocis. Kopocis has been the de facto head of the Office of Water since August 2014 while he awaited Senate confirmation to the currently open assistant administrator position.
Originally nominated to officially head the Office of Water in 2011 by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Kopocis failed to secure full Senate confirmation due to partisan acrimony over EPA’s and President Obama’s environmental regulatory agenda. His over 1,600 days as an unconfirmed candidate is longer than any other nominee under the Obama administration. At the core of the confirmation battle was the recently finalized Clean Water Rule, which is now on hold pending widespread litigation in federal courts.
Joel Beauvais, currently serving as the associate administrator for EPA’s Office of Policy, will replace Kopocis in the deputy assistant administrator for water role. It is unclear if President Obama will put forth a new nominee for the assistant administrator role given the low likelihood of confirmation during the remainder of his administration.