Meet the New Head of the TCEQ

Photo courtesy of TCEQ

Zak Covar will be the new executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Zak Covar was approved as the new executive director today of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state’s environmental agency. Covar is 36 and has only been with the agency since November 2007; he has been deputy executive director since August 2009. You can read more about him in this Austin American-Statesman profile. Covar will officially become executive director on May 1.

Covar is taking the place of Mark Vickery, who announced his retirement from the TCEQ on February 23.

More from the TCEQ’s press release:

Covar began his career in state government when he clerked for Chairman Dennis Bonnen (State Representative District 25) on the House Environmental Regulation Committee. From 2005 to 2007, Covar also worked as the environmental and natural resource adviser to Governor Rick Perry. In this role, Covar was responsible for advising the governor and senior staff on all major budget and policy issues pertaining to the TCEQ, the Texas Railroad Commission, and Texas Parks and Wildlife.

At the TCEQ, Covar served as the executive assistant to Chairman Bryan W. Shaw, Ph.D. and later as assistant deputy executive director.

You can read more on the appointment at the TCEQ’s website.