Edward H. Chu, Deputy Administrator for EPA’s Region 7 Office in Kansas City
Edward H. Chu is the Deputy Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 in Lenexa, Kansas. Ed brings almost 30 years of environmental and energy policy experience, passion for public service and sustainability, and commitment to effective management.
Ed has held key leadership positions since arriving at the Environmental Protection Agency in 1995. Most recently, Ed was the Assistant Regional Administrator for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Region (Region 10), serving four states and 271 federally recognized tribes. He also served as the Assistant Regional Administrator for the Southeast Region (Region 4), the most populous EPA region, serving eight states and six federally recognized tribes.
Ed served as the Deputy Associate Director for Green Jobs, Community Protection, and Climate Solutions at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where he led an interagency task force to develop and implement the Recovery Through Retrofit Action Plan for the Vice President and the Middle Class Task Force. The plan developed strategies and actions to accelerate the pace of energy efficiency improvements in homes and create green jobs.
Ed served in many senior leadership positions in Washington, D.C. He served as the Acting Director of the Indoor Air Division, where he developed the Federal Radon Action Plan and championed EPA’s asthma programs. As the Director of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response’s Center for Program Analysis and the Director of the Land Revitalization Office, he created the Re-Powering America’s Land Program to encourage generation of renewable energy on Brownfield properties. Harvard University recognized the initiative as one of the Top 25 Innovations in American Government.
Ed was also a founding member of EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection in 1997. His accomplishments in that office include the development of the first Federal Asthma Strategy for the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children, the first international report on children’s health indicators, and the first research program on children’s health valuation.
He received degrees from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Ed grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and now lives in the Kansas City area with his wife and two daughters (ages 12 and 15). Ed can be seen running with his daughter or on his motorcycle around town.