Sylvia Quast selected to head U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest legal office

EPA Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  May 8, 2014

MEDIA CONTACT:  David Yogi, yogi.david@epa.gov, 415-972-3350

Sylvia Quast selected to head U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest legal office

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named Sylvia Quast as Regional Counsel for the Pacific Southwest.  EPA’s Pacific Southwest office serves Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 148 Tribes.  Ms. Quast has over two decades of experience handling environmental matters in both the public and private sectors. 

Prior to joining EPA, Ms. Quast served as Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorneys’ Office (USAO) in Sacramento, Calif. where she was responsible for managing an office of 170 employees and personally handled environmental enforcement and defense cases.  She has litigated environmental enforcement actions in the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Quast also served as the Chief of the USAO’s Defense Litigation Unit, where she was responsible for litigation on various issues including environmental cases involving, among other laws, the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.  After several years in private practice, Ms. Quast started her federal career in 1994 with the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C., where she worked on cases involving a variety of environmental and natural resources issues. 

Ms. Quast received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, and her Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Minnesota.   Ms. Quast’s expertise has gained her numerous accolades and honors, including service on the Governing Council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. 

For more information on EPA Pacific Southwest’s Office of Regional Counsel, visit:  http://www.epa.gov/region9/orc/

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