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Steve Owens (Arizona politician)

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Steve Owens
Chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
Incumbent
Assumed office
  • January 5, 2023
  • Acting: July 22, 2022 – January 5, 2023
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byKatherine Lemos
Member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byRichard J. Engler
Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for Toxic Substances
In office
July 2009 – November 2011
PresidentBarack Obama
Director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
In office
2003–2009
GovernorJanet Napolitano
Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party
In office
January 16, 1993 – July 15, 1995
Preceded byBill Minette
Succeeded bySam Coppersmith
Personal details
Born
Stephen Alan Owens

(1955-08-19) August 19, 1955 (age 69)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Karen Carter
​
(m. 1988)​
ResidenceScottsdale, Arizona
EducationBrown University (AB)
Vanderbilt University (JD)

Stephen Alan Owens (born August 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he served as chief counsel and state director for U.S. Senator Al Gore before moving to the Phoenix, Arizona area during Gore's unsuccessful presidential run in 1988. He was a fundraiser for the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1992, and, from 1993 to 1995, was chair of the Arizona Democratic Party. He was the Democratic nominee for Arizona's 6th congressional district in 1996 and 1998, losing both times to incumbent J. D. Hayworth.

Owens served as director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality from 2003 to 2009 under Governor Janet Napolitano, after which he was appointed by President Barack Obama to be Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. After two years in Washington, he joined Squire Sanders (now Squire Patton Boggs) as a partner in their Phoenix office. Since February 2022, he has served as a member of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board by appointment of President Joe Biden.

Early life and family

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Owens in the 1978 Brown University yearbook

Childhood and education

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Owens was born on August 19, 1955, in Memphis, Tennessee to Milburne (1924–1995), a truck driver, and Maxine Neal Owens (1932–2019), who worked at Sears.[1][2] He attended Messick High School, where he was elected by his peers as president of the class of 1973.[3] Later, he was accepted into Brown University on an academic scholarship.[4] While there, was an active member of the Undergraduate Council of Students, the school's student government. He won election as vice president in 1976 and as president the following year.[5][6]

After five years at Brown, Owens graduated with honors with a degree in public policy in 1978. He then attended Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the school's law review, graduating in 1981.[7][8] He was admitted to the Tennessee bar later that year and spent a year as a law clerk to Judge Thomas A. Wiseman Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.[9]

Marriage

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Owens married Karen Lynn Carter on November 12, 1988, at the Customs House in Nashville.[10] The two knew each other at Vanderbilt Law and reconnected when Owens moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where Carter was practicing law with Janet Napolitano at Lewis & Roca. They went on to have two sons.[8]

Career

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Gore staffer

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Owens first met then-U.S. Representative Al Gore as a law student.[11][12] In 1982, he moved to Washington, D.C. after Gore named him counsel to the House Science and Technology Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which Gore chaired.[13] During the 1984 U.S. Senate election, in which Gore handily defeated Republican state senator Victor Ashe, Owens served as his Shelby County campaign manager.[14] In the Senate, he was Gore's chief counsel and later his state director.[1]

In 1987, Gore kicked off his campaign for the following year's Democratic presidential nomination. Despite a relatively successful Super Tuesday, by April 1988, he was trailing far behind Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson.[15] Owens, the campaign's Southern director, was dispatched to Phoenix to round up delegates ahead of the April 16 Arizona caucus and ended up staying in the state.[8][16] He took an active role in state politics, working in 1992 as a fundraiser for the Clinton-Gore campaign, and, on January 16, 1993, he was elected chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, after incumbent Bill Minette declined to run for a second term.[12] He won reelection in early 1995 but resigned in July of that year, in part to focus on a 1996 congressional run.[17] He was succeeded by former congressman Sam Coppersmith.[18]

Congressional campaigns

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[19][20][21]

Owens testifying at his 2009 confirmation hearing

Environmental lawyer

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After moving to Phoenix, Owens entered private practice, joining the law firm Brown & Bain as a regulatory attorney and registered lobbyist.[11][22][23] Later, he joined Beshears Muchmore Wallwork.[24] In 2003, when friend Janet Napolitano was sworn in as Governor of Arizona, she appointed Owens to serve as director of the state Department of Environmental Quality.[8] Six years later, Napolitano and Owens were both tapped for jobs in the Obama administration: Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security and Owens as Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.[25] Owens left in 2011 to return to Arizona and become a partner with Squire Sanders (now Squire Patton Boggs).[26]

In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Owens to serve on the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Owens' nomination was confirmed by the Senate in December 2021,[27] and he began service on February 2, 2022.[28] Following the resignation of Katherine Lemos in July 2022, President Biden appointed Owens as interim executive authority, and nominated him as chair of the board. On November 17, 2022, the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held hearings on his nomination. On December 13, 2022, the United States Senate discharged the committee from further consideration of the nomination by unanimous consent agreement, and confirmed the nomination by voice vote.[29]

References

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  1. ^ a b Silverman, Amy (October 31, 1996). "Halloween VI: Election Fright!". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  2. ^ "Flora Maxine Neal Owens". The Commercial Appeal. October 31, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  3. ^ Deibel, Mary (October 9, 1983). "Deibel...is the Apple ripe?". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Morlock, Blake (October 21, 1996). "J.D. on the ropes vs. Owens". Arizona Daily Star. p. 4. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Linn, Robert (March 17, 1976). "Bicks, Owens to head UCS; Run-offs in two other races". The Brown Daily Herald. p. 1. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  6. ^ Siden, Harold (February 25, 1977). "Owens takes top UCS spot; Run-off slated for VP race". The Brown Daily Herald. p. 1. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  7. ^ "Stephen A. Owens, '81, nominated to be Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances". Vanderbilt Law School News. April 2, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Pitzl, Mary Jo (January 19, 2003). "Walking the 'green' fence". The Arizona Republic. p. B6. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "390 Pass Summer Examination for State Bar". The Tennessean. October 4, 1981. p. 13A. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Owens, Carter". The Tennessean. December 2, 1988. p. 9D. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b Eaton, Jason (July 13, 1992). "Valley friend recalls Gore's 'independence'". The Arizona Republic. p. A5. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b Melssner, Steve (January 17, 1993). "Phoenix lawyer to lead state Democrats". Arizona Daily Star. p. 4B. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Good For You". The Commercial Appeal. August 12, 1982. p. A14. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Pay charges in Gore ad annoy Ashe". The Commercial Appeal. September 21, 1984. p. A16. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Nagourney, Adam (January 27, 2000). "The 2000 Campaign: Looking Back; For Gore, a Bitter Lesson From the Campaign Trail". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  16. ^ Willey, Keven (July 15, 1992). "Gore has honed political style". The Arizona Republic. p. A6. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Willey, Keven (June 28, 1995). "Dem party chairman to take on Hayworth". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Coppersmith new Demo chairman". Tucson Citizen. Associated Press. July 18, 1995. p. C1. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Arizona Race Ends in Slim GOP Victory". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. November 10, 1996. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  20. ^ Brooke, James (November 11, 1996). "Despite Narrow Victory, Republican Is Unbowed". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  21. ^ "The Southwest". The Washington Post. November 5, 1998. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  22. ^ Morlock, Blake (September 21, 1995). "Owens looking for help from high up". Arizona Daily Sun. p. 2. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Morlock, Blake (October 24, 1996). "Owens, Citizens Utilities furious over television ads". Arizona Daily Sun. p. 2. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Thorson, Sara (December 12, 2002). "Gov.-elect reveals 7 nominees". The Arizona Republic. p. B4. Retrieved January 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Davenport, Paul (November 1, 2009). "Where did Napolitano's people end up going?". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  26. ^ Sunnucks, Mike (December 30, 2011). "Former EPA official Owens lands at Squire Sanders". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  27. ^ "Senate confirms Johnson, Owens as members of Chemical Safety Board". Safety and Health. December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  28. ^ Lemos, Katherine (2022-02-02). "Statement from Chairman Katherine Lemos Welcoming Two New Board Members to the CSB". Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  29. ^ "PN2402 — Stephen A. Owens — Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". United States Congress. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
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