About the Office of Land and Emergency Management

What We Do

The Office of Land and Emergency Management works to protect the human health and environment of all communities by preventing contamination, cleaning up and returning land to productive use, and responding to emergencies. At OLEM, we:

1. Develop guidelines for the land disposal of hazardous waste and underground storage tanks;
2. Provide grants, technical assistance, and education and outreach to all levels of government to establish safe waste management practices, including waste prevention, reuse, recycling and disposal;
3. Support state and local governments in redeveloping and reusing potentially contaminated sites through the Brownfields program;
4. Advance cleanups and reuse of legacy hardrock mining sites;
5. Respond to abandoned and active hazardous waste sites, as well as accidental chemical releases through the Superfund program; 
6. Prevent, prepare for and respond to environmental emergencies, and
7. Encourage innovative technologies to address contaminated soil and groundwater.

Programs and Projects Managed by OLEM

• Brownfields
• Circular Economy
• Cleanups
• Communicating Risks from Contaminated Sites
• Emergency Management and Response
• Federal Facilities Cleanup
• Legacy Hardrock Mines
• OLEM Program Benefits
• Superfund
• Underground Storage Tanks
• Waste

Leadership

Organization

Mail code: 5401T | EPA mailing addresses

Phone: 202-566-0200

Location: EPA Headquarters at Washington, D.C. Federal Triangle campus

Office of Superfund and Emergency Management

What We Do

OSEM administers the Superfund program, the federal government's program to clean up the nation's most hazardous waste sites. We're committed to ensuring that the hazardous waste sites on the National Priorities List are cleaned up to protect the environment and the health of all Americans. OSEM implements the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

Programs and Projects include:

• National Priorities List
• Community Involvement
• Superfund Redevelopment
• Environmental Response Team
• Superfund Contract Laboratory Program

OSEM also works with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and other federal agencies to develop creative, cost-effective solutions to environmental challenges at federal facility cleanup sites. The goal is to facilitate faster, more effective and less costly cleanup and reuse of federal facilities while ensuring protection of human health and the environment.

Programs and Projects include:

• Cleanups at Federal Facilities
• Base Closure and Realignment
• FEDFacts
• Federal Facilities Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket
• Redevelopment at Federal Facility Superfund Sites

OSEM also works with other federal partners to prevent accidents and maintain incident response capabilities. We provide information about response efforts, regulations, tools, and research that help communities, government entities, and concerned citizens prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. 

Programs and Projects include:

• Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Consequence Management Advisory Division
• Emergency Response
• Local Governments Reimbursement Program

OSEM Organization

Mark Barolo, Director

Silvina Fonseca, Acting Deputy Director

Emerald Laija, Acting Deputy Director

Divisions within OSEM include:

Program Management Division

• Ryan King, Acting Director
  • 202-564-2016

Assessment and Cleanup Division

• Jennifer Hovis, Acting Director
  • 202-566-1035

Risk and Technical Services Division

• Patricia Gioffre, Director

Environmental Response Team and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Consequence Management Division

• Marc Greenberg, Acting Director
  • 732-321-6740

Response Readiness and Development Division

• Brian Schlieger, Acting Director
  • 202-564-3128

Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery

What We Do

ORCR’s mission is to protect human health and the environment by:

• promoting the conservation of resources,
• ensuring proper management of waste and hazardous substances,
• requiring prevention of, preparedness for, and response to oil discharges at certain facilities,
• preventing harmful exposure and
• overseeing the cleanup of land for productive use.

We do this by establishing and implementing regulatory standards, incentive-based programs and best practices in collaboration with communities, governments, businesses, and other organizations. ORCR implements the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as well as chemical accident and oil spill prevention and preparedness programs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), Clean Water Act (CWA) section 311, Oil Pollution Act (OPA), and the Clean Air Act (CAA) section 112(r).

• Reporting Oil Discharges and Hazardous Substance Releases
• Risk Management Plan

ORCR Organization

Andrew Baca, Director

• 202-564-6012

Amanda Kohler, Acting Deputy Director

• 202-566-0345

Divisions within ORCR include:

Waste Identification, Notice, and Generators Division

• Jessica Young, Acting Director
  • 202-566-0522
• Cecilia De Robertis, Deputy Director
  • 202-564-5132

Resource Recovery Division

• Sonya Sasseville, Director
  • 202-566-0319
• Emma Lavoie, Deputy Director
  • 202-564-7091

Waste and Chemical Implementation Division 

• Catherine M. Davis, Acting Director 
  • 202-573-1704

Analysis and Information Division

• Mark J. Huff, Acting Director
  • 202-566-0134
• William Noggle, Deputy Director
  • 202-566-1306

Office of Underground Storage Tanks

What We Do

OUST manages a regulatory program for underground storage tank systems that store petroleum and other hazardous substances. An UST system is a tank and any underground piping system connected to the tank that has at least 10 percent of its combined volume underground.

• Underground storage tank program

Programs and Projects include:

• Preventing UST releases
• Cleaning up UST releases
• Emerging fuels and USTs
• Petroleum brownfields
• USTs in Indian country

OUST Organization

Carolyn Hoskinson, Director

• 202-236-6387

Vacant, Deputy Director

Divisions within OUST include:

Release Prevention Division

• Anthony Raia, Director
  • 202-566-1021

Cleanup and Revitalization Division

• Will Anderson, Director
  • 202-564-1642

Management and Communications Division

• Ray Worley, Director
  • 202-564-1634

Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization

What We Do

EPA's Brownfield's program provides grants and technical assistance to communities, states, Tribes, and other stakeholders, to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse formerly contaminated properties. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties protects the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands. EPA’s Land Revitalization program works with communities, states, non-profits and other stakeholders to develop and test sustainable approaches for the reuse of formerly contaminated properties. OBLR implements the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.

Programs and Projects include:

• Brownfields program, including grants and funding
• Land revitalization

OBLR Organization

Jerry Minor-Gordon-English, Acting Director

• 202-566-1817

Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains

What We Do

The Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains was established to address cross-media, cross-program, and cross-agency issues associated with advancing cleanups and reuse of Superfund and non-Superfund legacy hardrock mining sites west of the Mississippi River. OMDP provides support for legacy hardrock mining cleanup sites; serves as a central contact for other federal partners, states and tribes with responsibility for or impacted by these sites; identifies and facilitates reprocessing or recovery of critical minerals from abandoned hardrock mine sites; evaluates innovative technologies and reuse options; coordinates and advances cleanup of abandoned uranium mines on or surrounding the Navajo Nation; and leads the implementation of the Good Samaritan Remediation of Hardrock Mines Act of 2024 to improve environmental conditions at legacy hardrock mine sites. OMDP serves as the point of contact for federal agencies, states, Tribes and industry with equities in legacy hardrock mine sites.

Programs and Projects include:

• Abandoned uranium mine cleanups on Navajo Nation lands and surrounding communities. 
• Critical mineral recovery efforts at legacy hardrock mine sites.
• Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines.
• Advocacy for technology to improve revitalization and reuse solutions at legacy hardrock mines. 

Location: Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, CO and EPA Headquarters at WJC Building West, Washington, D.C

OMDP Organization

David Hockey, Acting Director

• 202-564-3924