The California Air Resources Board is searching for a new chief executive following the announcement that current Executive Officer Richard Corey will retire at the end of June.
Corey has worked for the agency for 37 years and served as executive officer since 2013. In that role, Corey oversees a staff of about 1,700 employees and an annual budget of more than $2 billion.
The executive officer is appointed by the CARB board. The agency issued a recruitment announcement for the position last week.
During a ceremonial presentation at the end of CARB’s April 28 board meeting, Chair Liane Randolph detailed Corey’s accomplishments.
Corey joined CARB after receiving a bachelor’s degree in environmental toxicology in 1984 from the University of California, Davis. He later received an MBA from the same university.
By 1997, Corey was grants chief in CARB’s research division
When CARB adopted first-in-the-nation limits on tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions in 2004, Corey “played a key role in developing, communicating and defending staff’s findings on the need to address climate change and the economic impacts of the regulation,” Randolph said. “This set the course for CARB’s further initiatives on climate change.”
Later, as stationary source division chief, Corey oversaw the adoption and implementation of the agency’s low-carbon fuel standard. And as a deputy executive officer, he supervised CARB’s first cap-and-trade auction.
He was named executive officer in 2013, succeeding James Goldstene.
Board members expressed appreciation to Corey for his work ethic, thorough knowledge of the agency’s work and his availability to the board.
“You’re herding cats all the time,” board member Hector De La Torre said. “It’s really hard to do.”
De La Torre, who served in the California Assembly from 2004 to 2010, called Corey’s work with the state legislature “tremendous.” The board never had to worry that there would be “blowback” from lawmakers over something the executive officer said.
“That’s really, really important … to know that we’re not going to mistakenly get into fights with the legislature,” De La Torre said. “Because that can happen. There’s egos over there.”
Although Corey’s retirement is effective June 30, the April 28 board meeting is expected to be the last he attends as executive officer.
In its recruitment announcement, the agency said the ideal candidate to replace Corey would be an air quality and climate expert with “a commitment to clean air for all Californians and a focus on priority communities that are overburdened by air pollution.”
Salary for the Sacramento-based position is listed at $17,349 to $18,850 per month. The application deadline is May 24.
More details are available here.