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LaJuana Wilcher speaks at Kentucky Governor’s Conference on Energy and the Environment
by Mandy Hicks
Attorney LaJuana Wilcher of ELPO spoke recently at the Kentucky Governor’s Conference for Energy and the Environment. The conference was held Sept. 21 and 22 at the Lexington Convention Center.
LaJuana provided attendees with an update on recent federal water regulatory and policy developments, focusing on the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, as part of a panel discussing federal environmental and energy regulations. Moderating the panel was Commissioner Aaron Keatley of the Department of Environmental Protection.
About LaJuana Wilcher
LaJuana Wilcher is a Partner at ELPO. In 1989, she was nominated by the President George H.W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Water in Washington, D.C. In that role, she was responsible for EPA’s water policy and regulations, including implementation of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. She is the only woman in EPA’s history to have been confirmed in this position.
LaJuana worked on environmental law issues in Washington, D.C., for almost 20 years. She was a Partner in the DC offices of Winston & Strawn and LeBoeuf, Lamb Greene and MacRae LLP, where she served as legal counsel for NACWA and numerous municipalities in federal Clean Water Act litigation, permitting and enforcement matters. She has also served as a group facilitator, expert witness and legislative counsel on various CWA matters.
Returning to private law practice in her home state of Kentucky in 2002, LaJuana was a partner at ELPO until being tapped by Kentucky’s Governor to be Secretary of Kentucky’s Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet from 2003-2006.
LaJuana has developed and taught environmental law and policy courses at Vermont Law School and Vanderbilt University Law School. She was awarded NACWA’s Special Recognition Award in 1993 and State Public Service Award in 2006. She has been selected as a Lifetime Honorary Member of American Water Works Association and has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 2009. She speaks frequently throughout the country on environmental law and leadership issues.
LaJuana was a founding Board Member of America’s Clean Water Alliance (now the U.S. Water Alliance) and Friends of Mammoth Cave National Park, and is a Supervisor of the Warren County Conservation District. She owns and operates Scuffle Hill Farm, growing grass-fed Angus cattle, hay and horses.
