On January 29, 2025, Lee Zeldin was sworn in as the 17th Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Administrator Zeldin will work closely with officials at the agency to fulfill the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment.
“It is my honor to serve as the 17th Environmental Protection Agency Administrator,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a press release. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we will take great strides to defend every American’s access to clean air, clean water, and clean land. We will maintain and expand the gold standard of environmental stewardship and conservation that President Trump set forth in his first administration while also prioritizing economic prosperity. I look forward to working with the agency’s talented staff and scientists to deliver results for the American people. It’s time to get to work.”
He is currently in his 22nd year in the United States military, having deployed to Iraq in 2006 with the Army’s Elite 82nd Airborne Division and continues to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve. He served in the New York State Senate from 2011-2014 and later represented New York’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives from 2015-2023.
During his eight years in Congress, Zeldin worked to preserve the Long Island Sound and Plum Island.
According to the EPA, he supported key legislation that became historic, bipartisan success stories like the Great American Outdoors Act and Save our Seas Act to clean up plastics from our oceans. He also led the fight for Sea Grant, combated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, voted for the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, and supported clean energy projects on Long Island.
At just 23, he became the youngest attorney in New York State at the time.
Born and raised in Suffolk County, New York, Zeldin and his wife Diana are proud parents to their twin daughters.
