Michael Deane, former associate assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Water, has announced he has returned to the agency to lead the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program, effective March 16.
Deane most recently served as the executive director of the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), which represents private and investor-owned water and wastewater utilities, from 2009 to 2018.
“This opportunity is particularly exciting for me as I started my career in water as a graduate school intern helping establish the CWSRF,” Deane said. “During the intervening years, this excellent example of federal-state partnership has grown in scale and in scope and has achieved extraordinary environmental, water quality and public health benefits. The 51 state and territorial CWSRFs together have approximately $75 billion in assets and finance around $7 billion annually for projects targeted to each state’s priority clean water objectives.”
Prior to his role as associate assistant administrator for water, Deane served as senior policy advisor in infrastructure finance for EPA’s Office of Water. He has also served as an executive at several water management companies, including United Water (now Suez) and the U.S. operations of Vivendi (now Veolia), where he focused on innovative financing and infrastructure policy.
Deane is frequently quoted in trade publications, as well as national outlets including Bloomberg, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He is a sought-after speaker for conferences and events across the country and abroad.
“I believe the CWSRF is uniquely positioned, due to its flexibility and the innovation of its state and EPA partners, to be a leader into the future in creating effective financing solutions for our most critical water quality challenges,” Deane added. “The states, with EPA’s support and guidance, are increasingly promoting SRF funding for projects such as agricultural and community nonpoint source reduction, watershed financing partnerships, water and energy conservation, climate resilience, water reuse and nature-based approaches.
“I look forward to strengthening and broadening these efforts with all our partners,” he continued. “And, of course, investing in our nation’s extensive wastewater treatment and resource recovery systems always will be an important and integral priority of the CWSRF program.”
