By Frank Young

About DEP Leadership

Recently Randy Huffman, acting Director of the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (DEP), wrote in a Charleston Gazette column:

"Protecting the environment is about all of us. It’s about clean air and clean water -- the basics of life. It should be about science, not politics."

Yes, Randy, that’s right. I hope whomever Governor Wise appoints to head your agency understands this, and is willing to remind the folks both above and under his or her direction of this basic axiom. Huffman then goes on:

"It's about doing the right thing today to ensure our sustainability tomorrow. The vast majority of the director’s responsibilities are mandated in the law and detailed in the regulations. This written direction, which reflects the environmental policy of our state and nation, is measured not in inches but in feet. A single person, regardless of background or ideology, cannot possibly move environmental protection to either extreme."

I respectfully disagree, Randy. The key concept at work here is, I believe, "administrative discretion." And by using that discretion, recognized in both law and regulations, the Director and his subordinates decide how stringently to enforce mining laws, decide how nearly a permit application actually meets the requirements of law and regulations, whether and when to revoke authority under violated permits, whether and how much to fine violators, and whether to require actual payment of adequate bond requirements as a condition of continuing to operate under permits.

In short, deciding how to use the Directors discretion will determine, even more than the law itself, to which "extreme" environmental protection is taken.

I could not agree with Huffman more when he says:

"Economic development and environmental protection can and must coexist. Contrary to popular belief, these issues are not at odds with each other. This is not a balance where gain by one must be offset by the other’s loss. They can work together, and the progress of one can benefit the other. Pollution should not be viewed as a necessary evil but as a problem that still needs resolved. Pollution and waste cost industry, the consumer and the taxpayer money. This is common ground upon which we can develop solutions."

And Huffman is still on a roll, saying:

"As a state, we have not been very good at making the connection between economic development and environmental protection. We need to do a better job at this. This places a major economic development responsibility in the hands of the state’s environmental regulatory function. For this reason, we cannot play politics with environmental protection. We must settle our differences with our future in mind. We must protect our environment -- not for the sake of the environment alone -- but for the sake of our state and its people.

But Huffman then stumbles into murky water as he advises:

"Judge and scrutinize the DEP by its performance, not by the director's ‘resume.’ Put aside the destructive politics of ideology that promotes division and has little to do with protecting our environment."

Well, Randy, now you’re waking my cynicism. Some of us think the DEP’s performance is inextricably linked to the Director’s resume. That’s because the DEP Director and those close to him are human, with human characteristics. One characteristic of people is that we develop mindsets that set our respective ethical, legal and professional compasses. Those mindsets do not change immediately, as the Director’s job changes. What better measure of a Director’s performance potential than his resume? Indeed, potential employers almost always demand resumes for potential employees for the very reason that a resume is usually a good indication of an individual’s past and probable future direction.

If the DEP’s performance history showed outstanding service toward clean air and water, and a credible record based on law and science, not politics, I’d look at the performance, not the resume. But appointing governors often appear to look at the agency’s performance based on the Director’s resume. Why should we citizens expect the agency to perform other than by the example the Director brings with him, via his resume, and the tone he sets with politicians and the agency’s personnel.

Judge the DEP by its performance? We do. And it’s the performance we find that causes us to scrutinize the Director’s resume, the governor’s resume, something, anything, to see what’s needed to make that performance better.