THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                        (Little Rock, Arkansas)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                      July 17, 1998

                PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES J. CHARLES FOX AS
                    ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR WATER
               AT THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The President today announced his intent to nominate J. Charles Fox to serve as Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mr. Fox will be replacing Mr. Robert Perciasepe, who will become Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

Mr. J. Charles Fox, of Annapolis, Maryland, is currently Associate Administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a position he has held since 1997. In this capacity, he serves on the Agency's senior management team and directs the Office of Reinvention coordinating a range of reinvention activities including the Clinton Administration's regulatory reform agenda. From 1995 to 1997, he served as Assistant Secretary at the Maryland Department of the Environment. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Fox served as Chief of Staff in the Office of Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 1993, he served as the Special Assistant to the EPA Administrator. From 1992 to 1993, Mr. Fox also served as Campaign Director of the American Rivers, Inc. and as an Environmental Consultant. From 1988 to 1991, he served as the Director of Legislative Affairs at Friends of the Earth.

Mr. Fox received his B.S. in Urban Geography from the University of Wisconsin and studied Geology and Metropolitan Studies at New York University.

The Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the national water quality management program, including water and drinking water criteria and standards, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for point sources of water pollution, and linking ecosystem management with water quality programs. The Assistant Administrator for Water also serves as the principal advisor to the Administrator of EPA on all water issues as well as manages 2,680 employees and a $2.6 billion budget.

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