John W. Busterud
John W. Busterud (born October 22, 1954) is an American public servant and attorney who served as Regional Administrator for Region 9 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from February 11, 2020, until January 20, 2021. The son of John A. Busterud, he is a retired United States Army officer and was Senior Director and Managing Counsel, Environment and Real Estate Law, Law Department, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) from 1985 until his retirement in 2016.[1][2]
Busterud previously served as a board member for the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance, where he worked on environmental issues with the EPA. He also served as Vice Chair of the California Veterans Board and Chair of the American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East. A member of the Order of St John (chartered 1888), Busterud's promotion to the rank of knight was approved by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on April 22, 2021.[3][4][5]
EPA Administrator Andrew R. Wheeler announced Busterud’s appointment on February 11, 2020. As the EPA’s top official in California and administrator of the agency’s Pacific Southwest regional office in San Francisco,[6] Busterud led approximately 700 personnel and oversaw environmental protection efforts in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean, and 148 federally recognized tribes.[7]
Education and early career[edit]
Busterud was born in San Francisco, California, the eldest of three children of John A. and Anne Busterud (née Witwer). John A. Busterud served in the 90th Infantry Division in World War II and wrote Below the Salt, an account of his unit’s capture of German gold reserves hidden in Merkers Mine during the war, portrayed in the 2014 film The Monuments Men.[8] The elder Busterud, who later served in the California State Assembly, was appointed in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon as the first deputy assistant secretary of defense for environmental quality.[9]
In 1976, Busterud graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he majored in History and played varsity Baseball (Captain) and Soccer.[10] He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco in 1981.[11]
Following graduation from law school, Busterud was an associate at the law firms of Crowell & Moring, Washington, D.C., and Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro in San Francisco.
PG&E[edit]
At PG&E, Busterud specialized in environmental and energy issues. He managed a broad practice including air and water quality, hazardous materials compliance and remediation, endangered species, and legislative and environmental policy matters. During his tenure at the company, he served as an industry representative on EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee from 2012 to 2017.[12]
Busterud also played a key role in establishing PG&E’s Veteran Employees Resource Group in 2011.[13] The group, which is open to all employees, regardless of veteran status, as well as honorary membership to all PG&E retirees and family members of active duty and veteran employees, focuses on community philanthropy and helping develop the careers of veterans.[14]
At PG&E Busterud was considered a “solid litigator who was friendly, jocular and not outwardly political.”[15]
Military career[edit]
Busterud received a Direct Commission into the U.S. Army Reserve in 1991 as a Judge Advocate General officer and served as a Reserve Army lawyer and advised commanders on military law for eight years before obtaining a transfer to the Civil Affairs branch.[16] In 2004, Busterud deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, with the U.S. Army Reserve 351st Civil Affairs Command.[17] In Iraq he served as Executive Officer for the Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) Civil Military Operations Directorate and Action Officer for the MNF-I Bilingual Bicultural Advisor program.
In 2013, he deployed to Djibouti, serving with Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, where his mission included supporting regional stability through such activities as drilling wells, building medical and veterinary clinics, and engaging with key leaders by providing training to partner nation militaries from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, among other countries.[18]
Busterud retired from the military in 2014 with the rank of colonel after serving multiple combined, joint and interagency assignments and active duty deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Combined Forces Command on the Korean Peninsula.[19] His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and Parachutist’s Badge.[20]
EPA[edit]
Under Busterud’s direction, in 2020 the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 9 addressed Tijuana River transboundary pollution, completed wastewater treatment plant upgrades in Arizona, reduced the Air Quality State Implementation Plan (SIP) backlog from 181 to 140 and reduced the Underground Injection Control permit backlog by 50 percent. Region 9 also awarded more than $500 million in grants to states, tribes and territories, completed 13 removal actions and continued work to safeguard human health and the environment at a number of Superfund National Priority List sites. Responding to the unprecedented 2020 wildfire season in California, Region 9 identified and removed household hazardous waste from more than 2,500 parcels of property. Busterud directed clean up efforts of more than 565 leaking underground storage tanks, assessed 254 Brownfields sites, completed 20 PCB site cleanups and finalized a 10-year plan to address abandoned uranium mines on Navajo Nation lands.[21]
Region 9 obtained 92 enforcement and compliance case conclusions in 2020, reducing or preventing 33 million pounds of pollution. Actions included obtaining $1 billion in injunctive relief, $20 million in penalties and $1.7 million in work done via Supplemental Environmental Projects. The Region took nine Clean Air Act 112(r) actions, resulting in $684,000 in penalties and reducing pollution by 309 tons. It concluded six defeat device cases, including the region’s largest Clean Air Act settlement, which garnered a $20 million penalty and reduced more than seven million pounds of pollution.[22]
References[edit]
- ↑ Francisco, UC Hastings Law | San (2020-02-12). "John Busterud '81 Appointed as EPA Regional Administrator". UC Hastings Law | San Francisco. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ↑ US EPA, OA (2020-02-11). "EPA Announces Appointment of John Busterud to Region 9 Administrator". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ↑ US EPA, OA (2020-02-11). "EPA Announces Appointment of John Busterud to Region 9 Administrator". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ↑ Fimrite, Peter; Alexander, Kurtis (2020-02-12). "EPA names former PG&E attorney to head West Coast office". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3798437
- ↑ US EPA, OA (2020-02-11). "EPA Announces Appointment of John Busterud to Region 9 Administrator". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ "EPA Appoints Former PG&E Attorney to Head Regional Office in San Francisco". KQED. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ textmessageguest (2014-01-27). "The Monuments Men and the Recovery of the Art in the Merkers Salt Mine April 1945". The Text Message. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ Fimrite, Peter; Alexander, Kurtis (2020-02-12). "EPA names former PG&E attorney to head West Coast office". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ "Newsmakers: Union alumni in the news". Union College News Archives. 2003-09-01. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ Francisco, UC Hastings Law | San (2020-02-12). "John Busterud '81 Appointed as EPA Regional Administrator". UC Hastings Law | San Francisco. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ US EPA, OA (2020-02-11). "EPA Announces Appointment of John Busterud to Region 9 Administrator". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ Earley, Tony (2016-06-23). "John Busterud Retirement Message". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-02-15. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "You are being redirected..." www.pgecurrents.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ Fimrite, Peter (2020-02-11). "EPA names former PG&E attorney to head West Coat office". www.sfchronicle.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "You are being redirected..." www.pgecurrents.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ "Newsmakers: Union alumni in the news". Union College News Archives. 2003-09-01. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ "You are being redirected..." www.pgecurrents.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ US EPA, OA (2020-02-11). "EPA Announces Appointment of John Busterud to Region 9 Administrator". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ Francisco, UC Hastings Law | San (2020-02-12). "John Busterud '81 Appointed as EPA Regional Administrator". UC Hastings Law | San Francisco. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ US EPA, OCFO (2021-01-15). "FY 2020 Annual Performance Report (APR)". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
- ↑ US EPA, OCFO (2021-01-15). "FY 2020 Annual Performance Report (APR)". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
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