New director of Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is familiar

Aug. 20--In a shifting of chairs atop the state environmental agency, a governor-appointed commissioner will now lead the agency staff and a new appointee will take his spot.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced Monday that Toby Baker, who was

appointed to be a commissioner by then-Gov. Rick Perry in April 2012, is stepping down to become the agency's executive director.

Baker was the point person for Perry and Gov. Greg Abbott on the disbursement of grants stemming from the settlement of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He replaces Richard Hyde, who retired as executive director in March.

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It's not the first time an executive director of the agency has sprung from the governor's office. Zak Covar preceded Hyde as executive director. Perry then appointed Covar to be a commissioner.

Baker told the American-Statesman he has "always been passionate about this policy area" -- he once served as an aide to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development -- and decided to apply for the executive director post because he wanted a role on the front end of regulatory matters.

"I feel like it plays to my strengths. ... I can bring everyone to the table, find solutions and be fair," he said.

Baker, who was paid $189,500 as a commissioner, said he had recused himself from all discussion and decision-making on the hiring after submitting his application. A TCEQ spokeswoman said that in his role as executive director, Baker could earn as much as $211,415, but she could not immediately provide his salary Monday afternoon.

In Baker's place, Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Emily Lindley as a commissioner.

Lindley most recently served as the chief of staff for the Dallas-based regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Before the EPA post she worked for more than 10 years at the TCEQ, most recently as the special assistant to the deputy executive director. She had also worked in the water permitting office and in the agency's intergovernmental relations office.

Her work at the agency coincided with fraught state relations with the Obama administration's EPA, including on water regulatory matters.

In recent decades, state and federal regulators have been closer when a Republican occupies the White House and farther apart when a Democrat is in the White House. Lindley's short tenure at the Trump administration's EPA -- she joined the regional administrator's office only in April -- and her return to the Texas regulator suggest that trend will continue.

"Emily has been a valuable, well-respected member of the EPA team, and we look forward to continuing to work with her in her new capacity with the state of Texas," said Anne Idsal, the EPA regional administrator.

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