AQMD chooses former industry consultant, EPA administrator to head air district

DIAMOND BAR >> A month after firing its long-time executive officer, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted to hire former EPA administrator Wayne Nastri as acting chief of the four-county air district.

Nastri was given a six-month contract at a salary of $271,080.

Nastri served as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s weste region administrator. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in November 2001. He replaced Felicia Marcus, who today is chairman of the State Water Resources Control Board.

Environmental groups later described Nastri as one of President Bush’s best appointments. Marcus told a San Francisco newspaper at the time: “People see him as a decent human being who’s capable of listening and respectful of people, which means he’s a good manager.”

In 1998, Nastri was chosen to serve on the AQMD board by Gov. Pete Wilson. That appointment became a major controversy when it was revealed Nastri, who headed up a Newport Beach-based consulting firm Environmental Mediation Inc., failed to reveal his firm was owned by L.A.-based American Vanguard Corp.

He served six months on the board. He left after the state Senate Rules Committee ruled against his appointment. The Senate was asked to investigate Nastri by AQMD Chairman William Burke, who remains chairman today. Burke said Nastri’s coection to American Vanguard, which owned a pesticide company that was regulated by the air district, would undermine public confidence in the AQMD.

Nastri has a degree in biological sciences from University of Califoia, Irvine.