William H. Sanders III, Dr.P.H.
Acting Director
Office of Children’s Health Protection & Environmental Education
Office of the Administrator, U.S.E.P.A
In March 2003 Dr. Sanders was selected to serve as the Acting Director, Office of Children’s Health Protection, now the Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education. The Office is responsible for leading efforts to ensure protection of children’s environmental health as well as that of our aging population, and for implementation of the Environmental Education Act.
In September 2002, Dr. Sanders was named Deputy Assistant Administrator in OPPTS. The office is responsible for implementation of the country’s laws governing pesticides, industrial chemicals, and pollution prevention. In this capacity Dr. Sanders also served as the Deputy Agency Environmental Executive for the Agency; as the EPA senior executive representative to the Federal Green Building Council; as the U.S. National Focal Point to the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety, as the U.S. representative to the Sound Management of Chemicals (SMOC) Working Group of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and as the Chair, Interagency Working Group on Methyl Mercury.
In May 1995, Dr. Sanders became the Director of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT). OPPT plays a lead role in promoting pollution prevention both within the agency and with States, tribes, communities, industry, and environmental communities. The Office is also responsible for oversight of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)--new and existing chemicals, chemical testing, asbestos, lead, and PCB’s, as well as key pollution prevention programs, including Design for the Environment, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, Green Chemistry, and Green Engineering.
From 1979 to 1995, Dr. Sanders served as the Director of EPA Region 5's Environmental Sciences Division, responsible for TSCA, Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), pesticides, field investigations, laboratory analysis services, geographic information systems, quality assurance, educational software development, risk assessments, and ambient monitoring. He served as the Deputy Director of Region 5's Water Division from 1976 to 1979, and other management and staff positions since joining the agency in 1973.
Dr. Sanders holds the following degrees:
- University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Dr. P.H., Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, 1992.
- DePaul University, Chicago, M.S. in Management of Public Service, Quantitative Methods, 1974
- University of Illinois at Chicago, B.S. in Civil Engineering, Structural Design,1969
Dr. Sanders has received numerous awards, including the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank award. He serves as Mayor, Highland Beach, MD, where he resides with his wife, and is the proud father of four and grandfather of five.