Gov. Blagojevich thanks IEPA Director Renee Cipriano for a job well done

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today announced that after almost four years of distinguished public service as the director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), Renee Cipriano will return to the private sector.  The Governor will appoint Doug Scott, formerly the mayor of Rockford and a state legislator, to succeed her.   

“I am grateful to Renee for her strong leadership in this demanding and crucial post,” said Gov. Blagojevich.  “Her vast knowledge of environmental law and programs, excellent people skills and sensitivity to both protecting the environment and encouraging economic development has served the people of Illinois well.  Director Cipriano worked very hard to carry out my objectives to make government more accessible and streamline the regulatory process.  She has been praised by citizens, local officials, business leaders, environmentalists and legislators for expanding IEPA’s outreach. I am confident that Doug will carry on in that same tradition as an energetic and innovative advocate for public health and the environment.” 

“I am truly grateful to Gov. Blagojevich for the extraordinary opportunity to serve in his cabinet,” said Director Cipriano. “I am proud of all that my staff and I have been able to accomplish with the Governor’s support. Thanks to the Governor’s initiative, Illinois now has the nation’s largest fleet of clean school buses and ranks first in the use of cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel,” Director Cipriano said. “In addition, more than $2 billion in funds have been dispersed to bolster drinking water and wastewater infrastructures in Illinois communities.  And all of us in Illinois are lucky that IEPA’s successful Brownfields program will be in the good hands of Doug Scott who has been a leader in this area.”   

“I am very pleased to be joining the administration and exhilarated by the opportunities and challenges ahead,” said Scott.   “I would like to thank Governor Blagojevich for this honor and for placing his confidence in me.  I look forward to meeting with the staff and continuing to build upon Renee’s good work.”  

Scott was the mayor of Rockford from April 2001 until last month and served as a state representative from 1995-2001.  Previously, he was Rockford’s city attorney from 1987 to 1995.  During his eight years as a city attorney, he was responsible for environmental legal issues and for city’s solid waste and recycling program.  A Rockford native, he is a graduate of Tulsa University in Oklahoma and received a law degree from Marquette University in Wisconsin. He is the President of the Illinois Chapter of the National Brownfields Association and a former member of the Illinois Recycling Association. 

Cipriano was first appointed as director by Gov. George Ryan in August 2001 and reappointed by Gov. Blagojevich in January 2003.  Earlier she had served in other governmental posts including as a senior advisor on the environment and natural resources; chief counsel for IEPA, and an Assistant Illinois Attorney General in the environmental division.  From to 1997-1999, she was in private practice as a partner at Schiff, Hardin law firm in Chicago, specializing in environmental law.

Some of the pending IEPA initiatives that Director Cipriano began and Scott will carry on:

• Working with other Midwest states on a regional strategy to control air emissions from power plants

   

• Continuing the Governor’s successful initiative to close the four remaining hospital incinerators in Illinois.  In past seven months, seven hospitals voluntarily shut down at the Governor’s urging.  Only four remain in Illinois.

   

• Backing the Governor’s Sustainable Energy Plan, now under consideration by the Illinois Commerce Commission, to boost investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency. 

   

• Expanding the one of the nation’s most successful brownfields programs to clean up and redevelop abandoned industrial sites. 

   

• Promoting the use of cleaner burning fuels including biodiesel and E85 both of which benefit air quality and Illinois agriculture. 

   

• Carrying out a Right-to-Know program that will make Illinois the nation’s leader in public notification and community relations activities when a release of contaminants is discovered. 

   

• Implementing the Governor’s IRID (Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps) program to clean up more orphaned open dumpsites and provide more resources to ensure that all Illinois landfills are properly operated.