Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency - Wikipedia Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States Incumbent Scott Pruitt since February 17, 2017 Inaugural holder William D. Ruckelshaus Formation 1970 Website www.epa.gov The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States federal government 's Environmental Protection Agency, and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation 's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other environmental statutes. The Administrator is nominated by the President of the United States and must be confirmed by a vote of the Senate. The office of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970 in legislation that created the agency. The EPA Administrator is customarily accorded Cabinet rank by the President and sits with the President, Vice President, and the 15 Cabinet Secretaries. Since the late 1980s, there has been a movement to make the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency a Cabinet Secretary, thus making the EPA a 16th Cabinet department, dealing with environmental policy. The Administrator of the EPA is equivalent to the position of Minister of the Environment in other countries. The current Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is Scott Pruitt, who succeeded acting administrator Catherine McCabe, on February 17, 2017. Contents 1 List of Administrators 2 Acting Administrators 3 Line of succession 4 See also 5 References 6 External links List of Administrators Officeholder Term President Ruckelshaus, William William Ruckelshaus 000000001970 - 12 - 04 - 0000 December 4, 1970 -- April 30, 1973 Nixon, Richard Richard Nixon Fri, Robert Robert Fri Acting 000000001973 - 04 - 30 - 0000 April 30, 1973 -- September 12, 1973 Train, Russell E. Russell E. Train 000000001973 - 09 - 12 - 0000 September 12, 1973 -- January 20, 1977 Ford, Gerald Gerald Ford Quarles Jr., John John Quarles Jr. Acting 000000001977 - 01 - 21 - 0000 January 21, 1977 -- March 6, 1977 Carter, Jimmy Jimmy Carter Costle, Douglas M. Douglas M. Costle 000000001977 - 03 - 07 - 0000 March 7, 1977 -- January 20, 1981 Jellinek, Steve Steve Jellinek Acting 000000001981 - 01 - 21 - 0000 January 21, 1981 -- January 25, 1981 Reagan, Ronald Ronald Reagan Barber Jr., Walter Walter Barber Jr. Acting 000000001981 - 01 - 25 - 0000 January 25, 1981 -- May 19, 1981 Gorsuch Burford, Anne Anne Gorsuch Burford 000000001981 - 05 - 20 - 0000 May 20, 1981 -- March 9, 1983 Ruckelshaus, William William Ruckelshaus 000000001983 - 05 - 18 - 0000 May 18, 1983 -- January 4, 1985 Thomas, Lee M. Lee M. Thomas 000000001985 - 02 - 08 - 0000 February 8, 1985 -- January 20, 1989 Reilly, William K. William K. Reilly 000000001989 - 02 - 06 - 0000 February 6, 1989 -- January 20, 1993 Bush, George H.W. George H.W. Bush Browner, Carol Carol Browner 000000001993 - 01 - 23 - 0000 January 23, 1993 -- January 20, 2001 Clinton, Bill Bill Clinton Whitman, Christine Todd Christine Todd Whitman 000000002001 - 01 - 31 - 0000 January 31, 2001 -- June 27, 2003 Bush, George W. George W. Bush Horinko, Marianne Lamont Marianne Lamont Horinko Acting 000000002003 - 07 - 14 - 0000 July 14, 2003 -- November 5, 2003 Leavitt, Mike Mike Leavitt 000000002003 - 11 - 06 - 0000 November 6, 2003 -- January 26, 2005 Johnson, Stephen L. Stephen L. Johnson 000000002005 - 01 - 26 - 0000 January 26, 2005 -- January 20, 2009 Jackson, Lisa P. Lisa P. Jackson 000000002009 - 01 - 23 - 0000 January 23, 2009 -- February 15, 2013 Obama, Barack Barack Obama Perciasepe, Bob Bob Perciasepe Acting 000000002013 - 02 - 15 - 0000 February 15, 2013 -- July 18, 2013 McCarthy, Gina Gina McCarthy 000000002013 - 07 - 18 - 0000 July 18, 2013 -- January 20, 2017 McCabe, Catherine Catherine McCabe Acting 000000002017 - 01 - 20 - 0000 January 20, 2017 -- February 17, 2017 Trump, Donald Donald Trump Pruitt, Scott Scott Pruitt 000000002017 - 02 - 17 - 0000 February 17, 2017 -- present Acting Administrators Note that Acting Administrators usually assume the office in the interim period between the resignation of a previous Administrator and the confirmation of his or her successor, including during the transition period between two presidential administrations, before the successor has been nominated and confirmed. Acting Administrators come from within the EPA and usually hold an office that is subject to Senate confirmation before becoming the Acting Administrator. Linda Fisher and Stephen L. Johnson had served as Deputy Administrator when they became Acting Administrator. Marianne Lamont Horinko was an Assistant Administrator at the time. They are not subject to Senate confirmation to serve as the Acting Administrator, though to continue to serve as a full - fledged Administrator ( as in the case of Lee M. Thomas or Stephen L. Johnson ), they must be confirmed by the Senate. Line of succession The line of succession for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is as follows : Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency General Counsel Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Chief Financial Officer Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development Assistant Administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs Assistant Administrator for the Office of Administration and Resources Management Assistant Administrator for the Office of Environmental Information Regional Administrator, Region 7 ( Kansas City, Kansas ) Principal Deputy General Counsel Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 2 ( New York, New York ) Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 5 ( Chicago, Illinois ) See also White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry References Jump up ^ `` Providing an Order of Succession Within the Environmental Protection Agency ''. Federal Register. 2016 - 08 - 17. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 30. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency. Official website Cabinet of President Donald Trump ( 2017 -- present ) Cabinet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Defense James Mattis ( 2017 -- present ) Attorney General Jeff Sessions ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price ( 2017 ) Vacant ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Energy Rick Perry ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin ( 2017 -- present ) Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly ( 2017 ) Vacant ( 2017 -- present ) Cabinet - level Vice President Mike Pence ( 2017 -- present ) White House Chief of Staff John Kelly ( 2017 -- present ) Reince Priebus ( 2017 ) Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer ( 2017 -- present ) Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats ( 2017 -- present ) Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley ( 2017 -- present ) Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney ( 2017 -- present ) Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo ( 2017 -- present ) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt ( 2017 -- present ) Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda McMahon ( 2017 -- present ) See also : Political appointments of Donald Trump Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Administrator_of_the_Environmental_Protection_Agency&oldid=798998438 '' Categories : Administrators of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Cabinet of the United States Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français 日本 語 Русский Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 5 September 2017, at 01 : 44. 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Question: who is responsible for appointing the administrator of the u.s. environmental protection agency
Answer: the President of the United States