PAST POSITIONS:
Secretary of the Department of Environmental Regulation
for the State of Florida, 1991- 1992
Legislative Director for Senator Al Gore (D- TN),
1989- 1991
Counsel, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, 1989
Chief Legislative Aide on environmental issues for Senator
Lawton Chiles (D- FL), 1986- 1989
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, University of Florida,
1977
Law degree, University of Florida, 1979
PERSONAL: Born December 16, 1955
Married, one child
Carol M. Browner has headed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since
1993. Under her lead, EPA has accelerated the clean- up of toxic waste sites and
abandoned urban properties, has improved air quality, and has begun to administer a
new Safe Drinking Water Act and a new food safety law. Browner's priority has
been to prevent pollution - - not wait to clean it up.
Browner is working to "reinvent" environmental protection, to achieve the very best
public health and environmental protection for the least cost. In 1994, she announced
the Common Sense Initiative, a new industry- by- industry approach to environmental
regulation that moves beyond the old piecemeal approach that dealt with air, water,
and land pollution, one at a time. In 1995, President Clinton, Vice President Gore
and Browner announced a package of 25 regulatory reforms to cut paperwork and
simplify environmental rules.
Browner ended decades of "water wars" by negotiating water quality standards for
San Francisco Bay. She established broad protection for the Great Lakes. She took
enforcement action against a record number of polluters - - while also offering a new
level of compliance assistance to businesses.
As head of EPA, Browner issued tough new controls over hazardous waste
incinerators, and under the community right- to- know law, she expanded the Toxic
Release Inventory requiring industry to inform the public of toxic emissions. She also
issued the Chemical Manufacturing Rule, which will reduce smog- producing
chemicals by one million tons per year.
Browner came to the Environmental Protection Agency after having compiled an
outstanding record on environmental issues as chief environmental officer for the state
of Florida. As director of Florida's Department of Environmental Regulation,
Browner responded to such diverse issues as population growth and residential
development, wetland protection, hazardous waste clean- up and bureaucratic
inflexibility. Her tenure was marked by a decrease in regulatory burden, an increase in
community involvement, and the substitution of dialogue and incentives for
confrontation and legislation. Called "a new type of environmentalist" by The New
York Times, Browner views economic development and environmental protection as
complementary goals.
Browner has a solid background in both the managerial and legislative aspects of
environmental regulation. Prior to assuming the top position at Florida's Department
of Environmental Regulation, she was legislative director for then- Senator Al Gore,
and counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.