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Thomas L. Adams, Jr.
Biography
[EPA press release - August 11, 1986]
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Thomas L. Adams, Jr. to be Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Monitoring for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Adams has served since 1983 as the EPA Deputy General Counsel for Regional Coordination. In that position, he was responsible for coordinating the counseling and enforcement activities of the 10 EPA Regional Counsel Offices. From 1977 to 1983, he was assistant director for governmental relations for Republic Steel Corp. Prior to that, he served for two years as assistant general counsel for the Federal Trade Commission and earlier as minority counsel for the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Environment and Consumer Affairs. Adams began his legal career as an officer in the U.S. Navy and as an appellate attorney for the Land and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.
"Tom Adams has a proven track record in the environmental area," said EPA Administrator Lee M. Thomas. "I look forward to working with him to make certain the regulated community assumes its full responsibilities for complying with our nation's environmental laws."
As head of EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Monitoring, Adams is responsible for judicial enforcement actions against violators of federal environmental laws and for maintaining national consistency in the enforcement of the civil and criminal laws and regulations.
A native of Lexington, Ky., Adams is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Vanderbilt University School of Law. He is married to Anne Randolph of Brodnax, Va. The Adams and their two children live in the District of Columbia.
He was confirmed by the Senate on August 9.