About EPA
Contact Us

About the Office of Land and Emergency Management

Related Information
OLEM News Releases

What We Do

The Office of Land and Emergency Management provides policy, guidance and direction for the Agency's emergency response and waste programs. 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. Respond to abandoned and active hazardous waste sites, as well as accidental chemical releases through the Superfund program; and
  5. Encourage innovative technologies to address contaminated soil and groundwater.

Programs and Projects Managed by OLEM

Organization

​Barry Breen, Acting Assistant Administrator
Barry Breen, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator
Carlton Waterhouse, Deputy Assistant Administrator
Ruby Goldberg, Special Assistant

The Office of Land and Emergency Management includes:

Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI)

What We Do

OSRTI administers Superfund, the federal government's program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled 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. OSRTI implements the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

Programs and Projects Managed by OSRTI

Mail code: 5201P | EPA mailing addresses

Location: EPA Headquarters at Potomac Yards

OSRTI Organization

Larry Douchand, Director

  • Phone: 703-603-7184

Dana Stalcup, Deputy Director

  • Phone: 703-603-8702

Offices within OSRTI include:

Resources Management Division

Barbara McDonough, Acting Director

  • Phone: 703-603-9042

Assessment and Remediation Division

Brigid Lowery, Director

  • Phone: 703-603-8752

Technology Innovation and Field Services Division

Pamela Barr, Director

  • Phone: 703-603-0262

Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR)

What We Do

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

  • promoting the conservation of resources,

  • ensuring proper waste management,

  • 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). Learn about the programs and projects ORCR manages.

Mail code: 5301P | EPA mailing addresses

Location: EPA Headquarters at Potomac Yards

ORCR Organization

Carolyn Hoskinson, Director

  • Phone: 202-236-3619

Greg Sullivan, Acting Deputy Director

  • Phone: 202-564-1298 

Offices within ORCR include:

Materials Recovery and Waste Management Division

Andy Crossland, Director

  • Phone: (202) 853-4459

Resource Conservation and Sustainability Division

Nena Shaw, Acting Director

  • Phone: (202) 564-5106

Program Implementation and Information Division

Sonya Sasseville, Director

  • Phone: 703-308-8648

Program Management, Communications and Analysis Office

Mark Huff, Director

  • Phone: 703-308-8730

Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST)

What We Do

OUST manages a regulatory program for underground storage tank (UST) 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.

Programs and Projects Managed by OUST

Mail code: 5401R | EPA mailing addresses

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

OUST Organization

Mark Barolo, Acting Director

  • Phone: 202-564-1611

Vacant, Deputy Director

  • Phone: 

Offices within OUST include:

Release Prevention Division

Tony Raia, Director

  • Phone: 202-566-1021

Cleanup and Revitalization Division

Will Anderson, Director
 
  • Phone: 202-564-1642

Management and Communications Division

Ray Worley, Director
 
  • Phone: 202-564-1634

Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR)

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 Managed by OBLR

Mail code: 5105T | EPA mailing addresses

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

OBLR Organization

David Lloyd, Director

  • Phone: 202-566-2731

Patricia Overmeyer, Deputy Director

  • Phone: 202-566-2774

Office of Emergency Management (OEM)

What We Do

OEM 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 the regulated community, government entities, and concerned citizens prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. OEM administers several environmental statutes, including the Oil Pollution Act.

Programs and Projects Managed by OEM

Mail code: 5104A | EPA mailing addresses

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

OEM Organization

Kathleen Salyer, Director

  • Phone: 703-308-8710

Brendan Roache, Acting Deputy Director

  • Phone: 202-564-6117

Offices within OEM include:

Regulations Implementation Division

Patty Gioffre, Director
 
  • Phone: 202-564-1972
Chemical Branch
 
Bill Noggle, Branch Chief 
 
  • Phone: 202-566-1306

Oil Branch

Vanessa Principe, Branch Chief

  • Phone: 202-564-7913

Resources Management Division

Dipti Singh, Acting Director
 
  • Phone: 202-566-0739

Preparedness and Response Operations Division

Gilberto Irizarry, Director
 
  • Phone: 202-566-0948

Emergency Operations Center and Continuity Branch

Eugene Lee, Branch Chief
 
  • Phone: 202-564-7988

Preparedness, Removal, Exercise, Policy Branch

Brian Schlieger, Branch Chief

  • Phone: 202-564-3128

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Consequence Management Advisory Division

Gina Perovich, Director
 
  • Phone: 202-564-2935

Planning and Implementation Branch

Elise Jakabhazy, Branch Chief

  • Phone: 202-564-1734

Field Operations Branch

Ed Argenta, Branch Chief

  • Phone: 202-564-4528

Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO)

What We Do

FFRRO works with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), and other federal agencies to develop creative, cost-effective solutions to environmental challenges at Federal Facility Superfund Sites. FFRRO's mission 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 Managed by FFRRO

Mail code: 5106R | EPA mailing addresses

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

FFRRO Organization

Greg Gervais, Director

  • Phone: 202-564-4409

Dave Hockey, Acting Associate Director

  • Phone: 202-564-3924

Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains (OMDP)

What We Do

Created during EPA's 50th anniversary, the Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains (OMDP), which reports to the Office of Land and Emergency Management, was established to address cross-media, cross-program, and cross-agency issues associated with advancing cleanups and reuse of Superfund and non-Superfund  abandoned hardrock mining sites across the country. The Office provides support for federal 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 mineral 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 supports efforts of conservation organizations to voluntarily undertake projects (Good Samaritan projects) to improve environmental conditions at abandoned hardrock mine sites.

Programs and Projects with OMDP Involvement:
  1. Cleanups
  2. Cleanups at Federal Facilities
  3. Climate Change and Land
  4. Education
  5. FEDFacts
  6. Greener Cleanups
  7. Hazardous Waste
  8. Land Revitalization
  9. Programs and Projects of the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM)
  10. RE-Powering America's Land
  11. Risk Management Plan Rule
  12. Superfund
  13. Superfund Redevelopment Program
  14. Technologies for Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites
  15. Tribal Lands

Location: EPA Headquarters at WJC Building West, Washington, D.C.

Mail code: 5101T

OMDP Organization

Shahid Mahmud, Director

  • Phone: 202-336-4291
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.