Season 2, Episode 24

Adam Ortiz on Life as an EPA Regional Administrator

On this episode of Free Range, host Mike Livermore is joined by Adam Ortiz, the MidAtlantic regional administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Episode is an appropriate teaching tool for but not limited to the following topics & courses:  government, policy, current events, ecology, geography

Discussion Questions

  1. The podcast discusses the role of EPA regional offices in facilitating coordination between federal, state, tribal, and local governments on environmental issues. What are some potential benefits and challenges of this multi-layered governance approach?
  2. Environmental justice is a major focus, ensuring that communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harms have a voice and benefit from remediation projects like Superfund cleanups. How can government agencies effectively engage with and empower these communities throughout complex, long-term projects?
  3. The revitalization of the Chesapeake Bay through the multi-state Chesapeake Bay Agreement is highlighted as a successful regional collaborative effort, even across partisan/political divides. What factors may have enabled this relatively nonpartisan approach, and how can similar cross-boundary coordination be fostered for other major environmental issues?
  4. The podcast emphasizes the importance of on-the-ground engagement, from the EPA regional administrator frequently visiting local communities to the role of municipalities in implementing environmental programs. Why is this personal, localized approach valuable for environmental governance? What are its potential limitations?
  5. Toward the end, the EPA regional administrator expresses optimism about the potential impacts of recent federal legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. What role could students and younger generations play in ensuring these investments lead to meaningful, sustained environmental progress?

    Additional Readings

    • Vig, N. J., & Kraft, M. E. (Eds.). (2018). Environmental policy: New directions for the twenty-first century. CQ Press.
    • Benemann, J. R. (2018). Wat-er environment? The resurrection of resource management in the Chesapeake Bay. Environmental Science & Policy, 81, 28-40.