A business lobbyist and former environmental regulator from Alabama has been selected as the new regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overseeing eight Southeastern states.
Former Alabama Department of Environmental Management director Trey Glenn will be overseeing the work of the EPA in Alabama as well as Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.
State records indicate Glenn is currently working as a registered lobbyist for both the Business Council of Alabama, which promotes business interests in the state, and as an environmental policy consultant. Glenn also headed ADEM for nearly five years, but his tenure there ended abruptly when the Alabama Ethics Commission found there was probable cause he had violated ethics rules in accepting gifts from Alabama Power. Glenn was eventually cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but he resigned after the ethics investigations in 2009. Those who have worked on environmental issues in Alabama during Glenn's tenure as ADEM director are not pleased with his appointment.
In a statement announcing the new placement, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said Glenn will “help us carry out President Trump's vision of creating a more streamlined and efficient EPA that focuses on the Agency's core mission, while also providing more regulatory certainty to our nation's businesses."