Eric Eidsness (politician)

Last updated

Frederic A. "Eric" Eidsness Jr. (born December 1, 1944) is an American politician and engineer.

Contents

Born to Fred A. Eidsness Sr. and Edith Polk Eidsness in Florida, Eidsness was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1982 with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, serving under Administrator Anne Gorsuch Burford during the controversial “Sewergate” era. [1] [2]

He ran as a Reform Party candidate in the 4th Congressional district in Colorado in 2006. After earning 11.3% of the popular vote, he lost to Marilyn Musgrave.

The collection of Eidsness' speeches, testimony, correspondence, journal articles, newspaper clippings, and water quality reports can be accessed at the Water Resources Archive in the Morgan Library of Colorado State University. [3]

Early years and education

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Eidsness grew up in Gainesville, Florida, during the 1950s as his father was studying for his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Florida. In 1951, Fred Sr. joined Charlie Black and Bill Crow to form the sanitary engineering company BC&E, the forerunner to the modern day environmental engineering consulting companies. In 1977, BC&E merged with CH2M, later CH2M Hill, Inc.

Eidsness' parents sent him to Holderness School, a New England all-boys preparatory school in 1959-1962 for a better education during which time his mother’s sister Barbara Washburn (née Polk) and Eidsness’ uncle Bradford Washburn served as his surrogate parents. Bradford Washburn was the founding manager of the Museum of Science (Boston). [4] Eidsness studied engineering at Vanderbilt University (1963-67) and earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree. Both Eidsness' father and uncle influenced him to enter the environmental field.

Military service

Pursued by his local draft board in Alachua County, Florida, Eidsness was drafted out of Peace Corps training at Camp Mataguay in Escondido, California, but received a commission in the United States Navy. Nearing completion of officer training, Eidsness received a change of orders from explosive ordinance diving school to in-country Vietnam, where he served in combat in the Riverine Forces aboard USS Cohoes (AN-78) from June 1969 to June 1970, followed by duty at Naval Station Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. He was honorably discharged in August 1970, remained in the United States Navy Reserve, and obtained a rank of full lieutenant until his separation in 1973.

EPA's founding and private sector employment

Eidsness entered federal service in the Water Quality Administration under the United States Department of the Interior in the fall of 1970, which on December 2, 1970, became the core of EPA’s Region 4 in Atlanta, Georgia. [5] There he wrote EPA’s first Environmental impact statement (EIS) on a regional sewerage system in Cobb County, Georgia, during which time he worked closely with the late Dr. Claude Terry and other founders of a grassroots environmental organization, Friends of the River. [6] Also, he managed the first truly interdisciplinary environmental impact study on "Ocean Outfalls and Other Methods of Treated Wastewater Disposal in Southeast Florida" and completed a study at EPA Headquarters on the applicability of the National Environmental Policy Act on Transportation Control Strategies developed locally under the Federal Clean Air Act.

Local water quality management planning

After two years with the international think tank, Arthur D. Little, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he learned the private sector trade of planning, budgeting, and managing large interdisciplinary studies, Eidsness joined the Larimer Weld Regional Council of Governments [7] as director under an EPA Section 208 clean water grant (August 1975 to July 1978). There, he integrated the disparate parts of the Federal Clean Water Act and produced a 20-year plan to control pollution in this water resources-rich area of the west, challenging the EPA and State of Colorado norms regarding protecting local water quality. He joined one of his consulting firms, the boutique local land use planning and financial advisor consulting company, BMML, of Boulder, Colorado, as a partner, where Eidsness opened an environmental division. After the Larimer Weld Regional Council of Governments was dissolved, the North Colorado Front Range Water Quality Association [8] was formed and continues to carry out the 208 plan under 100% local funding – one of if not the only one of 149 designated planning agencies remaining after federal funding ran out in 1980.

Reagan administration career

In September 1981, Eidsness joined the EPA in Washington as assistant administrator-in-waiting. [9] [10] [11] He was confirmed in March 1982 by President Ronald Reagan as Assistant Administrator for Water [12] [13] There, he had policy, budget, and management authority over three environmental statutes, the Federal Clean Water Act, the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. With a staff of 2,000 located in Washington, ten EPA regions and several research laboratories, a budget of $200 million a year, and a $2.4 billion per year grant program for municipalities to build wastewater treatment plants, Eidsness led regulatory reform to reduce the paper burden on regulated communities, reduce the complexity of regulations, engender more collaboration with states and the scientific and engineering communities, clear a huge backlog of unfinished regulatory business left by the Carter EPA, and institute EPA’s first accountability system that drove national policy through EPA’s ten regions and 57 states and territories. [14] [15] His signature regulatory reform was a body of regulations called Water Quality Standards that converted a useless tool to an effective regulatory program to protect local rivers, lakes, and streams. [16] [17] After EPA’s first administrator William Ruckelshaus returned to serve again, this time as fifth administrator, Eidsness left the EPA in 1983.

Return to the private sector

Following his EPA service a second time, Eidsness entered the environmental engineering and hazardous waste remediation industry, where he specialized in thermal treatment technologies and turn-key project delivery for clean construction projects and hazardous waste remediation. Employers included RMT Northern Region serving primarily major manufacturing industry in the Rust Belt, Canonie Environmental Services Corp., and CH2M Hill in their Boca Raton, Orlando, and Denver Offices.

2006 Reform Party candidacy

In late 2005, then-Republican Eidsness launched an exploratory committee to examine the prospect of challenging incumbent Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave in Colorado's 4th congressional district in the 2006 Republican Primary. Eidsness instead left the Republican Party and announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress from the 4th District on March 31, 2006, as a member of the Reform Party. Eidsness opposed both Musgrave and Democratic candidate Angie Paccione in the November 2006 General Election. Eidsness was declared the winner of a debate held in Windsor, Colorado [18] and earned the endorsement of four of six major daily newspapers, including the hometown newspapers of both his major-party opponents, the Fort Morgan Times, Musgrave’s hometown paper, and the Greeley Tribune [19] which had always endorsed Republican Candidates.

The campaign raised just under $27,000. In final returns, Eidsness netted over 27,000 votes or 11.28% of ballots cast. [20]

2007 switch to Democratic Party

In March 2007, Eidsness declared that he was joining the Democratic Party, declaring: "I am a new Democrat who can bring business savvy and fiscal restraint to the Democratic Party's proposals should I run for Congress in 2008 and win." [21] Media and political observers speculated that this party switch was a prelude to a second run for Congress in 2008.

Eidsness announced another run for Congress, this time running for the Democratic nomination. He withdrew from the race in October 2007, lacking support from the Democratic establishment. [22] Today, Eidsness is registered in Colorado as unaffiliated.

Entrepreneur

Eidsness has served as an independent consultant helping new-start businesses organize and deploy their products and services, including a new-start franchise offering aftermarket printers, the Black Rice Project (Thailand), [23] the reorganization of a Polish/German architectural, engineering and laminate product production company, and the reorganization of a New York-based exclusive resort marketing company.

He stepped down from the corporate world at the age of 50 and began his world travels, initially serving as a crew member on the HM Bark Endeavour Replica, sailing from Hawaii to Fiji. He was the oldest crew member.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Environmental Protection Agency</span> U.S. federal government agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilyn Musgrave</span> American politician (born 1949)

Marilyn Neoma Musgrave, American politician, is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives who served from 2003 to 2009, representing the 4th District of Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clean Water Act</span> 1972 U.S. federal law regulating water pollution

The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibilities of the states in addressing pollution and providing assistance to states to do so, including funding for publicly owned treatment works for the improvement of wastewater treatment; and maintaining the integrity of wetlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Browner</span> American environmentalist and lawyer (born 1955)

Carol Martha Browner is an American lawyer, environmentalist, and businesswoman, who served as director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. Browner previously served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. She currently works as a Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William K. Reilly</span>

William Kane Reilly was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. He has served as president of World Wildlife Fund, as a founder or advisor to several business ventures, and on many boards of directors. In 2010, he was appointed by President Barack Obama co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to investigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa P. Jackson</span> American politician: EPA administrator

Lisa Perez Jackson is an American chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angie Paccione</span> American politician

Angela Veronica "Angie" Paccione is an American politician and former Colorado legislator who was a 2006 Congressional candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CH2M</span> Former global engineering company

CH2M, earlier CH2M Hill, was an engineering company that provided consulting, design, construction, and operations services for corporations and governments. The company was organized in Corvallis, Oregon, and headquartered at 9191 South Jamaica Street, Englewood, Colorado. In December 2017, the company was acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado</span>

The 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado were held on November 7, 2006, with all seven House seats up for election. The winners served from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2009.

Water supply and sanitation in the United States involves a number of issues including water scarcity, pollution, a backlog of investment, concerns about the affordability of water for the poorest, and a rapidly retiring workforce. Increased variability and intensity of rainfall as a result of climate change is expected to produce both more severe droughts and flooding, with potentially serious consequences for water supply and for pollution from combined sewer overflows. Droughts are likely to particularly affect the 66 percent of Americans whose communities depend on surface water. As for drinking water quality, there are concerns about disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates, PFAS and pharmaceutical substances, but generally drinking water quality in the U.S. is good.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betsy Markey</span> American politician (born 1956)

Elizabeth Helen Markey is a former American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Colorado's 4th congressional district from 2009 to 2011. She also served as assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs in the United States Department of Homeland Security. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado</span>

The 2008 congressional elections in Colorado were held on November 4, 2008 to determine who will represent the state of Colorado in the United States House of Representatives, coinciding with the presidential and senatorial elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental policy of the United States</span> Governmental action to protect the environment

The environmental policy of the United States is a federal governmental action to regulate activities that have an environmental impact in the United States. The goal of environmental policy is to protect the environment for future generations while interfering as little as possible with the efficiency of commerce or the liberty of the people and to limit inequity in who is burdened with environmental costs. As his first official act bringing in the 1970s, President Richard Nixon signed the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law on New Years Day, 1970. Also in the same year, America began celebrating Earth Day, which has been called "the big bang of U.S. environmental politics, launching the country on a sweeping social learning curve about ecological management never before experienced or attempted in any other nation." NEPA established a comprehensive US national environmental policy and created the requirement to prepare an environmental impact statement for “major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the environment.” Author and consultant Charles H. Eccleston has called NEPA the world's “environmental Magna Carta”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clean Air Act (United States)</span> 1963 United States federal law to control air pollution

The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nutrient pollution</span> Contamination of water by excessive inputs of nutrients

Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients. It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters, in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. Sources of nutrient pollution include surface runoff from farm fields and pastures, discharges from septic tanks and feedlots, and emissions from combustion. Raw sewage is a large contributor to cultural eutrophication since sewage is high in nutrients. Releasing raw sewage into a large water body is referred to as sewage dumping, and still occurs all over the world. Excess reactive nitrogen compounds in the environment are associated with many large-scale environmental concerns. These include eutrophication of surface waters, harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, acid rain, nitrogen saturation in forests, and climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Perciasepe</span> American politician

Robert Perciasepe is an American former government official who currently serves as a senior adviser to McKinsey and Company and the nonprofit Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, following his role as President of the organization. He served as the Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the administration of Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina McCarthy</span> American government official (born 1954)

Regina McCarthy is an American air quality expert who served as the first White House national climate advisor from 2021 to 2022. She previously served as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Estuary Partnership</span> American government program

The San Francisco Estuary Partnership (Partnership) is one of the 28 National Estuary Programs created in the 1987 Amendments to the Clean Water Act. The Partnership is a non-regulatory federal-state-local collaboration working to restore water quality and manage the natural resources of the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta estuary. The Partnership works with over 100 municipalities, non-profits, governmental agencies, and businesses and helps develop, find funding for, and implement over 40 projects and programs aimed at improving the health of the estuary. The partnership either directly implements these projects, or administers and manages grants, holds educational workshops and highlights project results. The Partnership is also the official representative for the San Francisco Bay region to the Most Beautiful Bays in the World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration</span> Environmental policy as enforced by the Donald Trump administration

The environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration represented a shift from the policy priorities and goals of the preceding Barack Obama administration. Where President Obama's environmental agenda prioritized the reduction of carbon emissions through the use of renewable energy with the goal of conserving the environment for future generations, the Trump administration policy was for the US to attain energy independence based on fossil fuel use and to rescind many environmental regulations. By the end of Trump's term, his administration had rolled back 98 environmental rules and regulations, leaving an additional 14 rollbacks still in progress. As of early 2021, the Biden administration was making a public accounting of regulatory decisions under the Trump administration that had been influenced by politics rather than science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael S. Regan</span> American environmental regulator (born 1976)

Michael Stanley Regan is an American environmental regulator. He has been serving as the 16th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency since March 11, 2021. He is the first African American man to serve in the role.

References

  1. ↑ "EPA shredding brings charges of 'Sewergate'". JSTOR   25041272 . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  2. ↑ "The Process and Significance of Political Scandals: A Comparison of Watergate and the "Sewergate"". JSTOR   800705 . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Guide to the Papers of Frederic A. Eidsness, Jr" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Washburn Award" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Organization of EPA's Region 4 Office in Atlanta" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Friends of the River" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Larimer-Weld Regional Historic Site Inventory and Preservation Strategy Plan" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  8. ↑ "North Front Range Water Quality Planning Association (NFRWQPA)" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  9. ↑ Nominations. OL   3141440M . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Eidsness to be Nominated". JSTOR   25041272 . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Reagan Appointments and Nominations" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Nomination Approved". JSTOR   25041272 . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Three Key Appointments EPA Times No. 1, May 7, 1982" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  14. ↑ Eidsness, Frederick A.; Feliciano, Donald; Flynn, Kevin (1982). "EPA Assistant Administrator Frederick A. Eidsness, Jr.: Reasonable People Will Make Reasonable Decisions". Journal (Water Pollution Control Federation). 54 (7): 1051–1056. JSTOR   25041622 . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Water For Living" (PDF). Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  16. ↑ "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Water Quality Report Planned EPA Times No. 16, Dec, 6, 1982" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  18. ↑ "C-SPAN Congressional Debate" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  19. ↑ "District debate offers insight" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Total Raised and Spent" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Eidsness Makes it Official: He's a Democrat" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Eidsness Withdraws from Race" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Black Rice Project" . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.