By Judy Sheahan
May 26, 2003

Christie Todd Whitman, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) for the past two and a half years and former New Jersey Governor, submitted her resignation on May 21 to President George W. Bush. Her resignation will be effective June 27.

Whitman was a strong supporter of the role that Mayors play on environmental issues and regularly met with Mayors throughout her tenure as EPA Administrator to discuss brownfields redevelopment, water and wastewater infrastructure, regulatory reforms, and clean air improvements.

Whitman told the Mayors at the April, 2001 Washington Summit on Investment in the New American City that it was important to work together to solve environmental challenges and outlined the potential reasons why some federal programs have failed in the past. "Part of the problem, I believe, is because Washington came to America's cities determined that they knew better about the problems and solutions than those on the front lines, those there who are actually dealing with the cities, dealing with the constituencies every day," Whitman stated. "We want to forge true partnerships — partnerships that will marry our resources with your knowledge of your needs."

Whitman supported many of the Conference of Mayors priorities, particularly the issue of brownfields. As Governor of New Jersey, Whitman had one of the most well renowned brownfields and green space preservation programs in the country.

From the beginning of her tenure as EPA Administrator, she supported Senator Lincoln Chaffee's (RI) brownfields bill, which was endorsed by the Conference of Mayors. Within two months of taking over at EPA, she appeared at a Conference of Mayors- press conference held at the National Press Club with Mayors and Senator Lincoln Chaffee (RI) urging the passage of brownfields legislation.

"Mayors are on the front lines of government," Whitman said at the press conference, adding "they are the ones who get the phone calls when there is an abandoned site, so we need to give them the tools that they require to respond to their citizens. That is why the President put the passage of the brownfields legislation it at the top of his environmental agenda."

In her resignation letter, Whitman told the President, " It has been a singular honor to be entrusted with the responsibility to lead the EPA in its effort to leave America's air cleaner, its water purer, and its land better protected than it was when this Administration took office.

Our work has been guided by the strong belief that environmental protection and economic prosperity can and must go hand-in-hand, that the true measure of the value of any environmental policy is in the environmental results it produces.

I am pleased that the EPA has built an enviable record of success that will result in significant improvements to the state of our Nation's treasured environment."