Stephen A. Owens
Stephen A. Owens
Current Position: Environmental Protection Agency, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (since July 2009)
Boss: EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
Why He Matters
Rather than take an internship at a large Nashville law firm like many of his classmates at Vanderbilt Law School, Owens accepted a small stipend during the summer of 1980 to work on the staff of a young congressman from Tennessee.
“I wound up spending the summer working on the Superfund legislation that Al Gore was a primary sponsor of,” said Owens. “It was one of the best jobs I ever had.” (1)
After graduating, he served as counsel to the House Science and Technology subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. Whether investigating biotechnology or toxins in baby formula,(2) Owens learned that more often than not, the best information was found in scientific reasoning.
The lesson stayed with him over the years as he negotiated new territory, transitioning between public service and private practice and from the hills of Tennessee to the Arizona desert.
During his tenure as the longest-serving director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Owens championed sound science and transparent decision-making, determined to restore integrity to a department that had become entrenched with special interests under previous governance. (1)
Owens has set a similar tone for his office at EPA, saying his primary objective is to follow the rule of law and ensure the regulatory process is as clear as possible. At his nomination hearing in May 2009, he reaffirmed the priorities outlined by EPA head Lisa P. Jackson, saying, “Scientific decisions should reflect the expertise of the agency’s career scientists and independent advisers.” (3)
Owens’ actions, such as calling for scientific review of a commonly used herbicide, already have begun to reinvigorate the EPA, an agency long criticized for a lack of disclosure. (4)
Path to Power
Owens grew up in a poor family in Memphis, Tenn., living in public housing for part of his childhood.(5) He said his father, a trucker, and mother, who worked at Sears, Roebuck and Co., sometimes struggled to pay the rent and put food on the table, making him appreciate the importance of hard work.
“Nothing came easy,” said Owens, remembering a time in high school when his parents were unemployed and he was the only family member with an income.(6)
With the assistance of student loans and work-study jobs,(6) Owens earned his undergraduate degree at Brown University and then returned to Tennessee to study law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
It was during his first semester at Vanderbilt in fall 1978 that Owens met Gore, who was then a first-term House member. The two became fast friends, and, in addition to hours spent playing basketball, drinking beer and eating pizza, (6) talked endlessly about the range of “obscure” yet “deadly serious” issues that Gore wanted to bring to the public’s attention while in office. (7)
Al Gore’s Influence
The formative time spent at Gore’s side launched Owens to the forefront of the environmental movement at a critical juncture. With Ronald Reagan-EPA Administrator Ann Gorsuch scaling back the scope of the EPA, (8)environmental activists believed that legal recourse was more important than ever. But, as Owens said, he was entering uncharted waters. At the time, “we didn’t have environmental law…that was one of the challenges.”
Despite the lack of any substantial legal precedent for environmental work, Owens jumped headfirst into a critical effort to articulate a basis for legislation dealing with issues from hazardous waste to robotics
After Owens finished at Vanderbilt, Gore asked him to come aboard as counsel for the House Science and Technology Investigations and Oversight subcommittee, for which he was chair. The experience was instrumental in shaping Owens’ environmental consciousness.
While preparing for hearings, or just as part of his daily work, he had the opportunity to learn from prominent scientists in a range of fields. “They were always very eager to spend time with those of us on the congressional staff, especially those working for Gore because of things he was doing back then,” said Owens. (9)
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
After 14 years working in private practice at Phoenix-based law firm Brown & Bain, Owens re-entered the realm of public service in 2003 as director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Appointed by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), he said his main objective was to restore order to an agency that had developed a reputation for doing the bidding of special interests rather than protecting the environment. (9)
In addition to re-instituting the traditional responsibilities of the department, Owens began to tackle a broad range of issues, targeting toxins wherever they were hiding: lead in drinking water, mercury in school equipment, asbestos in historic buildings.
Among his new initiatives was the establishment of the Office of Children’s Environmental Health. Owens said including children’s health in the dialogue about environmental issues was important to him on a personal level. When his oldest son John developed severe asthma as a child, Owens and his wife realized the problem was widespread.
“The incidence of childhood asthma and other respiratory disease have skyrocketed in this country,” Owens said, adding that until recently, “not enough attention was paid to these issues from the environmental perspective.” (6)
Environmental Protection Agency
Owens was unanimously confirmed in July 2009 by the Senate as assistant administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.
The Issues
Owens has wasted no time in his effort to shed light upon EPA operations. In October 2009, he announced that the agency was launching an investigation into atrazine, an herbicide some researchers have linked to cancer, birth defects and harm to aquatic life.
The chemical was last evaluated in 2003, when the EPA was sued by the Natural Resources Defense Council for neglecting to acknowledge studies that suggested atrazine was dangerous. (11)
Next on the agenda for reform is the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, the only major environmental law in the country that has not been updated since enacted. Owens said because the act does not require chemical manufacturers to provide health and safety data to the EPA, it creates enormous obstacles for regulating their use.
“Everyone agrees that needs to be addressed,” said Owens, explaining that the EPA will be working with states, environmental groups, industry groups, and scientists to reevaluate the law’s provisions. (6)
Western Climate Initiative
Having run in the same circles as global-warming spokesman Gore, Owens became the point person for climate issues in Arizona. He was one of the co-chairs of the Western Climate Initiative, a collaboration of U.S. states and Canadian provinces working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite a focus on partnerships, the initiative encountered some local opposition. Speaking at a session of the Navajo Nation Council in January 2008, Owens invited tribal leaders to participate as observers. When a Navajo delegate at the meeting objected that as a sovereign nation, the tribe wanted equal voting power, Owens said all the other members had already agreed to a climate-action plan.
But he added, “We wouldn’t oversee the nation in any respect. We would want to work hand in hand for common solutions.” (12)
Arizona industry groups took issue with the proposal as well, saying emissions standards would put the state at a financial disadvantage, and would be pointless since a federal cap-and-trade program was likely on the horizon. (13)
The Network
Owens’ friend and former boss Janet Napolitano was selected to be Obama’s secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in December 2008.
Owens has a long history with former vice president and climate-change spokeswoman Al Gore.
Campaign Contributions
Owens contributed $11,805 to the Arizona Democratic Party between 1991 and 2004.
Since 2004, he has donated $1,250 to former Arizona Democratic Party chairman and Senate candidate Jim Pederson, $1,000 to former House candidate Paul Babbitt (D-Ariz.) and $500 to Harold E. Ford Jr (D-Tenn.).
His most recent contribution was $250 to Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) in 2007. (14)
Footnotes
1. WhoRunsGov.com Interview with Steve Owens, Oct. 8, 2009
2. Sack, Kevin and Toner, Robin, “In Congress, Gore Selected Issues Ready for Prime Time,” The New York Times, Aug. 13, 2000
3. Statement of Stephen A. Owens, Hearing on Nominations, Committee on Environment and Public Works, Senate, May 12, 2009
4. Turnbaugh, Brian, “EPA keeps the transparency coming,” The Fine Print, OMB Watch, Oct. 2, 2009
5. Statement of Stephen A. Owens, Hearing on Nominations, Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate, May 12, 2009
6. WhoRunsGov Interview with Steve Owens, Oct. 8, 2009
7. Sack, Kevin and Toner, Robin, “In Congress, Gore Selected Issues Ready for Prime Time,” The New York Times, Aug. 13, 2000.
8. “Case Study: How Congressional Checks on Executive Branch Authority Derailed an EPA Administrator,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
9. WhoRunsGov Interview with Steve Owens, Oct. 8, 2009
10. WhoRunsGov Interview with Steve Owens, October 8, 2009
11. Duhigg, Charles. “Regulators plan to study risks of atrazine,” New York Times, Oct. 7, 2009
12. Shebala, Marley, “Climate states ask tribe to join effort,” Navajo Times, Jan. 31, 2008
13. O’Grady, Patrick, “Opinions split as Arizona mulls Western Climate Initiative plan,” Phoenix Business Journal, Sept. 24, 2008
14. Opensecrets.org