About EPA

EPA's Acting Administrator

Catherine McCabe

Catherine R. McCabe is EPA's Acting Administrator.  Previously, she served as the Deputy Regional Administrator of EPA's Region 2 in New York City.  In this position, she assisted the Regional Administrator in overseeing the Region’s operations and regional implementation of all EPA programs in the States of New York and New Jersey, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  She has also been a member of the national EPA’s Executive Management Council.

Ms. McCabe previously served as a judge on EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (2011-2014) and as the Deputy Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (2005-2011) in Washington, D.C.   She came to EPA after a 22-year career at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served in various positions as a manager and trial attorney in the Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, including Deputy Chief of the Environmental Enforcement Section, Assistant Chief in the Natural Resources Section, and Senior Counsel in the Policy, Legislation and Special Litigation Section.

Prior to her federal service, Ms. McCabe was an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York, and was associated with the law firm of Webster & Sheffield in New York City.  Ms. McCabe holds a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School and a B.A. in environmental science from Barnard College.  She also studied environmental science at the graduate level at the Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.