UCOP's Hatayama to Serve as Acting Division Director for EH&S

Howard Hatayama, Director of Environment, Safety and Health for the University of California Office of the President's Laboratory Management Office, will serve as Berkeley Lab's Acting Director of Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S), effective Jan. 2, 2006. He will replace Phyllis Pei, who will assist Chief Operations Officer David McGraw in developing a new safety initiative for the Laboratory.

Hatayama, who has served in his current capacity for the University since 1992, is responsible for administering health, safety, environmental restoration, and waste management aspects of the management contracts with Berkeley, Livermore and Los Alamos labs. He has played key roles in development and implementation of DOE ES&H programs, including line ES&H policy, Work Smart Standards, Integrated Safety Management, performance indicators and performance improvement measures.

Prior to joining the University, Hatayama served as Regional Administrator for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for four years. In that role, he was responsible for administering hazardous waste management laws, regulations and programs in a 15-county area from Monterey to the Oregon border. Prior to that, he was Chief of Site Mitigation for DTSC, overseeing the remediation of more than 70 state "superfund" clean-up sites.

His 30-year work in the environment, health and safety field includes service as a project officer for the California Department of Health Services, a researcher for Economic Cooperation and Development, and consultant to the World Health Organization. He has also served on the board of directors of the National Safety Council and has taught in the UC Berkeley Extension program.

A registered Professional Engineer, Hatayama holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from Claremont McKenna College and a masters in sanitary engineering from UC Berkeley.