Bill Fink Elected Chair, Don Welsh Vice-Chair Of DEP Citizens Advisory Council

The DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council elected Bill Fink as Chair and Don Welsh as vice-Chair at its meeting on Tuesday.

Fink replaces Terry Dayton who served very ably as Chair of the Council for the last two years.

Bill Fink is currently employed as an Environmental Management Specialist at Country View Family Farms (CVFF). CVFF operates in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana with over 100 family farms raising swine under contract.

Prior to joining CVFF Mr. Fink was a Nutrient Management/CAFO Specialist with Brubaker Agronomic Services and TeamAg Incorporated for six years and Chesapeake Bay Technician with the Fulton County Conservation District from 1993 to 1999.

He has been involved with a variety of local, regional, state and national workgroups and committees including the Lower Susquehanna Water Resources Regional Committee, the National Pork Board Environmental Committee, DEP CAFO Stakeholder workgroup, and has participated in the development of the State Conservation Commission Odor Management Regulations and the Manure Haulers and Brokers Certification regulations.

He also has worked with the PA Dairy CAFO Ad Hoc Work Group, the PennAg’s Manure Applicators Counsel as well as participated in the PA CAFO General Permit renewal work group.

Mr. Fink received a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Pollution Control from the California University of PA and holds state certifications as a Certified Nutrient Management Specialist & Certified Odor Management Specialist.

Don Welsh has 30 years of experience in federal, state and local government, Don is known for building and maintaining successful partnerships among elected officials, government agencies, businesses and interest groups to achieve environmental results.

In 2009-2010 he served as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council where he Led and directed Pennsylvania’s most respected statewide non-profit environmental organization.

Prior to PEC, Don was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region III Regional Administrator for eight years where he was responsible for planning, managing and directing the activities of the U.S. EPA in the six-state Mid-Atlantic Region. His career with EPA also included time as the Region III Chief of Government Affairs (1984-1995), Executive Assistant to the Regional Administrator (1985-1991) and Pennsylvania State Liaison Officer (1984-1985).

He has held several PA Department of Environmental Protection positions including Deputy Secretary for State/Federal Relations (1997-2001) and Special Assistant to the Secretary for Federal Liaison (1995-1997).

For more information, visit the DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council webpage.