Shapiro nominates former Philadelphia official as DEP secretary

Gov.-Elect Josh Shapiro on Tuesday nominated former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Rich Negrin as secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection and intends to keep Cindy Adams Dunn as secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Negrin, who is now an executive with Commonwealth Edison, would be the first Latino to be DEP secretary if he’s confirmed. Dunn has been Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary since June 2015.

“Soon, he’ll make history as the first Latino to hold the post,” Shapiro said in a statement on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re building the most diverse Cabinet in Pennsylvania history.

Negrin most recently was VP of regulatory policy and strategy at ComEd and had been a partner and chair of the general counsel advisory group at Obermayer, Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel. He has also been a managing director and deputy mayor in Philadelphia.

“I’m humbled that Gov.-Elect Josh Shapiro has entrusted me to lead his Administration’s efforts to protect our air, land and water as secretary of DEP,” Negrin said on Twitter.

Also nominated on Tuesday by Shapiro was Russell Redding as secretary of agriculture, a position he holds in the Wolf administration.

“We need leaders who can lead these agencies’ critical work — and I’m confident the team I’ve put together will get the job done,” Shapiro said.

Negrin will take over a DEP that is charged with regulating the oil and gas industry, and has drawn fire from both sides in the past due to actions it has taken including the approval of Pennsylvania’s membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

“Gov.-Elect Shapiro has prioritized the importance of working together, and he can count on our industry to work collaboratively with him and his entire team toward commonsense policy solutions,” said David Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition. “American energy security and affordability — enabled by clean and abundant Pennsylvania natural gas — represents an opportunity to safely advance shared economic and environmental progress for the entire Commonwealth as well as our most critical allies around the world.”

Article link: Rich Negrin nominated as secretary of the Pennsylvania DEP – Pittsburgh Business Times (bizjournals.com)

Published by Pittsburgh Business Times on January 10, 2023. Author – Paul J. Gough