SCAQMD Board Appoints Former Region IX EPA Administrator as Acting Executive Officer

The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Board today appointed former EPA Region IX Administrator Wayne Nastri as the agency’s Acting Executive Officer. In this capacity, Nastri will develop and implement policies and programs approved by the agency’s 13-member Governing Board, oversee a staff of about 800 and an annual budget of $137 million.  He will serve a six-month term as the Acting Executive Officer while the Board conducts a comprehensive nationwide search for a permanent executive officer.

“Wayne brings a strong environmental record and decades of experience at the local, state and federal level working on clean air solutions and myriad environmental issues with the community and stakeholders,” said William A. Burke, Ed.D., chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

 Nastri has been active on a variety of environmental issues for more than three decades. He served as Regional Administrator of Region IX for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from October 2001 to January 2009.  Prior to his work at the national level, Nastri was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the SCAQMD Board from 1997 to 1998. He also served on Cal EPA’s Department of Toxic Substances Control Site Mitigation External Advisory Committee.

“Wayne’s management skills, combined with his environmental expertise, will keep the agency on course to meet our clean air goals while a thorough search takes place for a permanent agency head,” said Clark E. Parker, Sr., Ph.D., Senate Rules Committee appointee on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board.

“I am pleased to see Mr. Nastri take on this position.  He will be a proactive advocate to protect Porter Ranch residents’ public health in the wake of the Aliso Canyon gas leak and throughout the entire SCAQMD region,” said Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles County supervisor and SCAQMD Board Member

“I’m honored to be appointed as Acting Executive Officer of the nation’s largest and most prominent local air pollution control agency,” Nastri said. “As a resident of this air basin and an environmental professional in the field for over 30 years, I have a deep appreciation of the fact that we face some of the nation’s most challenging air problems.  I look forward to working with the SCAQMD’s Board and staff to continue to implement strategic and progressive air policies, and clean the air for the region’s 17 million residents.”

Nastri has held a number of positions in the environmental field including project manager, and health and safety officer.  Prior to his appointment as SCAQMD’s Acting Executive Officer, he worked with E4 Strategic Solutions, Inc., mCapital Management and Dutko Worldwide providing clients with advice on a variety of environmental and energy issues. He is also author and co-author of four environmental publications. He earned an undergraduate degree in biological science from the University of California, Irvine. He also studied molecular genetics at California State University, Long Beach.