The two cadidates that will have their SES development assignment in OPPT has been annouced. Seleceted are Tanya Hodge Mottley to serve as the Acting Director of PPD and Matt Leopard to serve as the IMD Acting Director. The CDP program, which is managed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is designed to recruit the most qualified federal managers to the SES. CDP involves a 1-year program of training and leadership developmental assignments.  The IMD and PPD Acting positions will be a part of Matt and Tanya’s leadership development.

Tanya and Matt will begin their assignment with OPPT on October 27th.  Their first formal training of the Candidate Development Program will take place during the week of November 3rd. They will begin their details as Acting Division Directors following this training. 

Tanya has served since January 2007 as the Deputy Director of the Water Security Division in the Office of Water’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water. The Division provides national leadership in developing and promoting voluntary programs that enhance the water sector’s ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from hazards, including natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Tanya joined the Agency in 2002, initially serving as the Director of the Analysis Staff in the EPA’s Office of the Chief Financial Office, with responsibility for overseeing the development and use of national performance information to guage the Agency’s environmental progress. Prior to joining EPA, she worked for more than a decade at the Dept. of Commerce on international trade related issues. Tanya holds a Masters of Business Administration and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, both from Virginia Tech.

Matt currently serves as the Acting Associate Director of the Information Access Division in the Office of Environmental Information, where he has supported many facets of the Agency’s geospatial program and data acquisition efforts, including the Facility Registry System, EPA’s Enterprise Data Licenses, and the Geospatial Data Gateway. Matt joined EPA in 1991 and has been a instrumental in a range of information policy and infrastructure efforts including Central Data Exchange, E-Authentication, and the Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule. Matt played a key role in bringing Google Earth to EPA’s desktop and has been working closely with others in OEI to develop a strategy for deploying Web 2.0. This month, Matt is being recognized by Government Computer News (GSN)as one of ten award winners for “Outstanding InformationTechnology Achievement in Government” for his work in advancing geospatial technology. It is his second award from GCN. Matt holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami and a Masters from Buffalo State college. He is also a former Marine Officer and Captain in the National Guard.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 the White House signed into law S. 906, the “Mercurcy Export Ban Act of 2008″.  This law will prohibit the transfer of mercury by Frederal agencies, bans U.S. export of mercury, and requires the Department of Energy to designate and manage a mercurcy long-term disposal facility.  On October 1, 2008, NPPR Executive Director, Jeffrey Burke, wrote President Bush on behalf of NPPR and it’s members to sign the ban into law.  Here is the letter sent to the White House mercury-export-ban-letter-from-nppr.