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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced today that Mr. Scott Mason IV has been appointed Regional Administrator for Region 6. Region 6 is denoted South Central Region.
Region 6 is one of the 10 regional offices. This regional office encompasses Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas and 66 Tribal Nations. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Mr. Mason previously served during the Trump Administration as Director of EPA’s American Indian Environmental Office. This office is stated to be assigned protection of human health and the environment in Indian country. He was also a member of the White House Council on Native American Affairs serving as Co-Chair of its Committee on Infrastructure.
Mr. Mason also previously served as Deputy Secretary of Energy of Oklahoma. Further, he is stated to have served at the local, state, and federal levels of government in various capacities including:
- Vice President and the Executive Director of federal programs at The University of Oklahoma.
- Staff of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin.
Mr. Mason is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a 5th generation Oklahoman. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from The University of Oklahoma.
Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment Secretary Shane Khoury is quoted as stating:
…Through working with EPA Region 6 Administrator Mason over the past four years in his state role in Oklahoma, I know that he will do an excellent job and I’m excited to work with him in this new capacity. Scott understands the need to roll back the unnecessary, overreaching, and cumbersome policies of the last EPA administration and how those poor policy decisions negatively impacted states like Arkansas. Scott also understands the need to empower each state to tailor its implementation of federal policies in a way that best protects its air, water, and land resources, while encouraging economic growth.
Note that Arkansas has been delegated basically every significant environmental program for purposes of implementation and enforcement. Examples of exceptions include Clean Water Act SPCC requirements and lead-based paint regulations. Nevertheless, EPA Region 6 arguably has less impact on routine Arkansas matters than other states who have not received program delegation. However, the Region does have some oversight authority on certain permits.
A copy of the EPA news release can be downloaded here.
