Julie D. Belaga

Biography
[EPA press release - October 30, 1989]

EPA Administrator William K. Reilly today named Julie Belaga his new Regional Administrator for Region 1, which is headquartered in Boston. She replaces Michael Deland, who left to become Chairman of President Bush's Council on Environmental Quality in Washington, D.C.

Belaga will head the Agency's activities in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

While serving in the Connecticut legislature, Belaga had major legislative successes on a number of critical environmental issues. She took the lead in drafting and implementing Connecticut's coastal area management laws that protect coastline communities and valuable resources. She served on Connecticut's water supply task force and led the fight to assure safe drinking water in the state. She also played an active role in the development of Connecticut's hazardous waste management service and was instrumental in realigning and reforming the state's Resource Recovery Authority.

Reilly said, "Julie Belaga brings to the regional administrator's post a wealth of environmental experience and determination and an understanding of the complex problems of the region. We welcome her to the EPA team."

Belaga has worked as a television consultant and political analyst at WTNH, an ABC-TV affiliate, in New Haven. In this position she analyzed the impact of national and state election news on the state of Connecticut.

Belaga is an adjunct lecturer on public policy at the Kennedy Graduate School of Government at Harvard University. She also is Vice Chair of the National Political Action Committee for Republican Women Candidates and was a member of the National Advisory Council on Adult Education.

In 1987, she was a Fellow of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government.

Belaga ran for governor of the state of Connecticut as the Republican Party candidate in 1986. She was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1974 to 1986. In 1984, she was elected Deputy Majority Leader and from 1978 to 1982 served as Assistant Minority Leader. She has also held elected office in the Town of Westport, Conn.

Belaga is active in civic and charitable groups in Connecticut, where she was won numerous awards for her service.

She received her bachelor's degree in education from Syracuse University in 1951. She taught elementary school in Qunicy, Mass., in 1952 and 1953.

Belaga resides in Westport, Conn., with her husband Mike. They have three grown children.

Julie D. Belaga

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