Oklahoman Scott Mason IV will lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s region covering some of the country’s hot spots for oil and gas production and industrial pollution, including Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, the Gulf Coast and the Permian Basin.
“Regional Administrator Mason will ensure that EPA Region 6 is fulfilling its mission to protect human health and the environment in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 66 Tribal Nations,” Region 6 spokesperson Jennah Durant said.
However, his appointment raises alarm bells for environmental justice efforts in the region. Mason was an advisor to the author of the EPA chapter in Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for remaking the agency in sync with industry priorities.
Mason previously was the deputy secretary of energy for Oklahoma, his home state. Most of his career has been in Oklahoma politics and higher education. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation.
While much environmental regulation is delegated to the states, EPA regional offices administer programs under federal jurisdiction. The 10 regional offices are also closely involved in monitoring new permitting programs that have been handed off to state regulators.
Jen Duggan, executive director of the nonprofit watchdog Environmental Integrity Project, said that regional offices are “where the rubber meets the road.”
The regional administrator “is responsible for implementing EPA programs and providing critical oversight of state environmental agencies,” Duggan said. “Without strong leadership in these roles, people are more at risk of being exposed to dangerous air and water pollution.”
At Region 6, Mason replaces Earthea Nance, a civil engineer and former Texas Southern University professor with decades of experience in disaster recovery. Nance used her role to shine a light on persistent pollution problems in the region and promote the Biden administration’s climate and environmental justice programs.
Layoffs loom at the EPA. The New York Times reported that the Trump administration notified more than 1,100 agency employees that they could be fired immediately, and the EPA press office said 168 agency employees working in environmental justice programs had been placed on administrative leave.
Mason grew up in Cordell and studied political science at the University of Oklahoma, according to a local news report. He told KWTV-9 in Oklahoma City in 2018 that meeting George H. W. Bush at a young age inspired him to enter politics.
Mason served as EPA director for the American Indian Environmental Office during the first Trump administration. In his home state, he led federal programs for the University of Oklahoma and served on the staff of former Gov. Mary Fallin.
Mason may face pressure from industry representatives and Republican politicians to preserve some Bidenera energy programs. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided unprecedented funds for plugging orphan oil and gas wells around the country. The EPA also provided funding to reduce methane emissions from marginal oil and gas wells. Republican-led states like Oklahoma and Texas have been some of the biggest beneficiaries.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas in the state, reported in January that the state had plugged 1,110 wells to date with federal funds from the infrastructure act at a total cost of $23.8 million. The report said at least 20,000 abandoned wells remain statewide.
The commission then warned on Jan. 28 that the well plugging program “faced an uncertain future” after the Office of Management and Budget issued a pause on federal grants and loans. The commission noted it was expecting a $102 million grant for well plugging when the pause went into effect.
The agency still had not received those funds as of Friday “and we haven’t received any word” about the status of that federal program, Matt Skinner, the commission’s public information manager, told Southwest Ledger.