Region 1: EPA New England

Ira W. Leighton
Acting Regional Administrator
EPA-New England

Mr. Leighton is the Deputy Regional Administrator for EPA New England, currently acting as Regional Administrator. In this capacity he oversees all of EPA's regional operations, including all water, air and hazardous waste programs. He is a leader at EPA on innovative strategies, and he is a personal champion of Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) and various ways industry can achieve compliance with environmental requirements.

Prior to being named Deputy Regional Administrator, Mr. Leighton was the Director of the Office of Environmental Stewardship. The Office of Environmental Stewardship is a one of a kind organization among EPA regions that is responsible for enforcement of all environmental laws and regulations and for providing compliance assistance and pollution prevention assistance to the regulated community. The Office is also prominent in national and regional efforts to experiment with innovative approaches that integrate compliance assistance, compliance incentives and enforcement strategies to solve New England's environmental and compliance problems. Prior to directing the Office of Environmental Stewardship, Ira was a key management team member in the Office of Site Remediation and Restoration where the Superfund, Brownfields, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act cleanup programs reside. He established a management review system that helps ensure consistency of cleanup decisions in the region and fosters redevelopment of contaminated sites, as well as provide emergency responders throughout the region.

Mr. Leighton has been in the environmental field for over 30 years and he has held a variety of other technical and management positions with EPA, and prior to that with the state of Massachusetts. These positions provided hands on experience with a number of different regulatory and technical assistance programs. Mr. Leighton has a B.S. from UMass, Amherst and an M.S. from Northeastern University in Environmental Engineering.