New CalEPA Secretary Appointed
Jared Blumenfeld, 49, of San Francisco, has been appointed secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), subject to confirmation by the state Senate.
One of the first actions taken by California's new governor, Gavin Newsom, is the appointment of Jared Blumenfeld, 49, of San Francisco, as secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), the state cabinet-level agency established in 1991 to restore, protect, and enhance the environment and to ensure public health and environmental quality. The governor's Jan. 8 announcement says Blumenfeld "is widely recognized as one of America's most innovative environmental leaders."
Blumenfeld founded his own private firm in 2016 to advise clean tech companies in best practices. He previously served for eight years as federal EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, including California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 148 tribal nations, during the Obama administration.
Before that, he was the director of the San Francisco Department of Environment for nine years, where he and then-Mayor Newsom worked to make San Francisco the most sustainable city in the nation. The release says Blumenfeld has served as general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, director of the Treasure Island Redevelopment Authority, chairman of United Nations World Environment Day, director of Habitat Protection at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and executive director of Earth Summit Watch for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
His new position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $209,943.