Scott Fulton

In September 2015, Scott Fulton was selected as ELI’s fifth President. Previously, Mr. Fulton was a Principal at the environmental law firm Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., and served as General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and in a number of other high-ranking government leadership positions.

Scott has a steadfast commitment to ensuring that ELI’s core functions as a convener, educator, publisher of legal scholarship and policy dialogue, and research engine remain a sound foundation on which to build for the future. He also is focused on making sure that ELI is adapting and modernizing in alignment with a rapidly changing world. Under his leadership, ELI has:

• Initiated and completed a strategic visioning process focused on identifying priorities for engagement, and optimizing the alignment of mission, function, and contribution over the next 5 years (ELI Vision 2021)
• Focused on strong financial controls and growing our membership, supporters and donors
• Reorganized the staff to fit within the pillars of Development and Membership, Programs and Publications, and Finance and Administration to achieve stronger results
• Assumed the leadership of the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement. This is a partnership of more than 4,000 practitioners from 150 countries who recognize the key role that compliance and enforcement play in environmental protection
• Initiated a cooperative program with the government of China, providing a platform from which ELI can bolster good governance and rule of law in China
• Beat its first year targets for the Campaign for ELI Fund, an effort designed to boost sustained financial support for the organization
• Helped launch the Global Judicial Institute for the Environment – a collaboration of judges around the world dedicated to building judicial capacity for environmental adjudication

Mr. Fulton’s Past Record of Service

In addition to his role as EPA’s General Counsel, Mr. Fulton served in a number of other key leadership roles in both Republican and Democratic Administrations, including as Acting EPA Deputy Administrator, head of EPA’s Office of International Affairs, Judge on the Environmental Appeals Board, and head of the Agency’s enforcement program. He also served as Assistant Chief of the Environmental Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division. An international expert on environmental governance and rule of law, he serves as a member of the United Nations Advisory Council on Environmental Justice and teaches International Environmental Governance as an adjunct professor at George Washington School of Law. He received the two highest awards given by the U.S. government for outstanding leadership—the Presidential Meritorious Executive Service Award, and the Presidential Distinguished Executive Service Award—and has been inducted into the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

Highlights of Mr. Fulton’s EPA career include:

• Playing a key role in the development of U.S. environmental law through his various roles at EPA and DOJ.
• Serving as a key contributor to the development and implementation of environmental law internationally and to building capacity for environmental protection throughout the world.
• Serving as a key interface with the Chinese government in the U.S./China relationship on environmental protection.
• Engaging in and leading numerous regulatory and policy initiatives under the Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act; Superfund; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the Oil Pollution Act; and the National Environmental Policy Act.
• Conceptualizing and catalyzing EPA’s Export Promotion Initiative to stimulate domestic economic development and job growth by promoting for export U.S. environmental services and technologies.
• Identifying legal tools that enable EPA to enhance environmental quality for historically underserved communities.