A top political appointee in EPA’s air office has stepped into a newly created position.
William Niebling’s appointment comes as the air office is racing to finalize a series of Clean Air Act regulations and is also continuing with implementation of its share of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 infrastructure law.
Neibling, who has served in two other posts since returning to the agency in 2021, is now deputy assistant administrator for air quality implementation within the Office of Air and Radiation. Niebling had first noted the new job on his LinkedIn profile, which says that it took effect last month. EPA then confirmed the change with an update to the air office’s home page following an inquiry from E&E News on Friday.
As least in recent years, the air office has not had a job by that title. Asked late Friday about the post’s responsibilities and whether Niebling’s appointment was related to the recent promotion of another senior air office appointee, an agency spokesperson had not provided answers by publication time Monday. Niebling did not immediately reply to an email sent late Monday morning asking for comment on what the position entails.
