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Kenneth L. Kimmell has been appointed Commissioner of the MassDEP by Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard K. Sullivan Jr.
Mr. Kimmell joined the Patrick Administration in January 2007 as general counsel of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. On an interim basis, he also served as general counsel to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. He has focused on:
- legislation to merge energy and environmental agencies into one secretariat;
- major legislative initiatives such as the Green Communities Act, the Global Warming Solutions Act, and the Oceans Act;
- permit streamlining initiatives;
- wind energy siting reform;
- the Massachusetts Ocean Plan;
- state and federal permitting of the Cape Wind project, the nation's first off-shore wind project; and
- development and early implementation of policy initiatives such as the MEPA Greenhouse Gas policy, a first-in-the-nation policy that requires developers of major projects to identify, avoid, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
Prior to joining the Patrick-Murray Administration, Mr. Kimmell was in private practice where he focused on environmental and land use law and litigation, and argued numerous cases dealing with issues such as home rule powers of municipalities, zoning, and solid waste permitting.
Mr. Kimmell graduated from Wesleyan University and UCLA School of Law. He lives in Newton, where he has served on the Newton Community Preservation Act Committee. He is also a former Board Member of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions.
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