EPA Pick Will Face Clean Air Rule Challenges.

The article informs that environmental observers, including those in the construction industry, are hoping that President George W. Bush's pick for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, agency veteran Stephen L. Johnson, will be more than a figurehead. It is no secret that Bush's first EPA administrator, former N.J. Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, was frustrated in the post and often disagreed with the White House on policy. Johnson is the first EPA executive who has risen through the ranks to the top job. In his 24 years at the agency, Johnson has served as deputy director of the Office of Pesticide Programs and later as assistant administrator of the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. He served as a deputy administrator for Whitman and Leavitt. Johnson has been acting administrator since Jan. 26, 2005.