Otter names Tippets new DEQ chief
State Sen. John Tippets, R-Montpelier, has been named the next director of the state Department of Environmental Quality by Gov. Butch Otter; Tippets will start July 6. He succeeds former Director Curt Fransen, who retired in May.
Tippets, 63, who is now in his third term in the Senate after serving six two-year terms in the House, currently chairs the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee; he co-chaired the joint legislative committee on state employee compensation. He is a retired public affairs manager for southeastern Idaho fertilizer manufacturer Agrium; Otter’s office says he has agreed to recuse himself involvement in any issues involving his former employer. He has a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in human resource management from Utah State University. When he served in the House, Tippets chaired the State Affairs Committee and served as majority caucus chairman.
Otter said in a statement, “John is what ranchers call a ‘good hand.’ When he’s assigned a responsibility, you can rest assured it will be accomplished professionally, thoughtfully and efficiently.” He said, “During this selection process I was particularly impressed with his vision for the agency, his commitment to its success, his grasp of the issues and his understanding of the dynamic between DEQ and the EPA. That’s critically important as Idaho works to assume control over issuance of water pollutant discharge permits in the coming years.”
Idaho has begun a multi-year process to take over permitting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, from the EPA; lawmakers instigated the move, which regulates water quality, and the DEQ is overseeing it.
Tippets, who told Idaho Public TV reporter Melissa Davlin he plans to move to Boise to take the job, said he doesn’t plan on making major changes at DEQ. “I told the governor that this wasn’t a department that needs someone to go in and fix it. It’s operating well. Director Fransen did a good job,” Tippets said; you can read Davlin’s full post here.
This is the third time in a month that Otter has chosen a current or former longtime state lawmaker as a member of his cabinet. Former longtime Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, co-chairman of the Legislature's joint budget committee, started today as the new director of the state Department of Insurance; and former Senate president pro-tem Bob Geddes, who served in the Senate from 1995 to 2010, is Otter's new state Administration Department director.
