Janet McCabe recently was sworn in as the 16th Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On her first day, Deputy Administrator McCabe committed to fulfilling the agency’s mission of protecting human health and the environment and supporting the work of EPA's scientists, program staff, regional teams, environmental justice leaders, and all the individuals who support the agency’s operations.
“I am thrilled to welcome Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe back to EPA and I look forward to working with her to further the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Her experience, leadership, and dedication to the agency’s mission is unquestionable and her commitment to uplifting our partnership with states and Tribes will be fundamental to achieving progress, overcoming complex challenges, and delivering for the American people.”
"I am humbled that President Biden has entrusted me to serve as Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at this critical moment in our country's history," McCabe said. "It is an honor to return to the agency and to work alongside Administrator Regan, the incredibly talented career team, and our many external partners, including the states and Tribes, to protect our water, air and land, and improve the health of American families, especially those living in environmental justice communities, and our environment.”
McCabe returns to EPA after spending seven years working as Acting Assistant Administrator and principal deputy to the assistant administrator in the Office of Air and Radiation under President Barack Obama. Prior to rejoining EPA, Janet McCabe was a professor of practice at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law and Director of the IU Environmental Resilience Institute, where she started as assistant director for policy and implementation in 2017. Her work at Indiana University centered on establishing innovative, research-informed, and actionable solutions to reduce environmental risks and help protect the health of communities and families.
Over the course of her career, McCabe has spent time working for state environmental agencies in Massachusetts and her long-time adopted home state of Indiana, with a focus on implementation of the Clean Air Act and other air quality issues. Prior to joining EPA in November 2009, McCabe was executive director of Improving Kids’ Environment, Inc., a children’s environmental health advocacy organization based in Indianapolis.
McCabe knows firsthand through these experiences that programs to improve public health and protect our environment are strongest when they are informed by a diversity of perspectives, and rooted in science, transparency, and the law.
McCabe grew up in Washington, DC and graduated from Harvard College in 1980 and Harvard Law School in 1983. From 1983 to 1984 she clerked for Justice Neil L. Lynch of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
