Region 5 - Office of Regional Counsel

Robert (Bob) A. Kaplan is the Regional Counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5. As Regional Counsel, Bob oversees an office of approximately 136 staff who are responsible for the conduct of civil and criminal enforcement actions under all federal environmental statutes throughout the six-state Midwest region. Bob and his staff serve as legal counsel to the Regional Administrator, Deputy Regional Administrator, and the various program offices and service organizations within the regional office. In addition to counseling their clients on environmental law, the EPA regional lawyers provide advice on matters including government ethics, contracts, grants, employment and labor law, tribal law, and information law.

Prior to Bob’s appointment as Regional Counsel, he was the Director of the Special Litigation and Projects Division at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, in Washington, D.C.  His division handled multimedia enforcement matters, as well as taking the lead on targeted issues such as CAFO enforcement and worker protection. The division was also responsible for implementation of EPA's audit and Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) policies.

Before joining EPA in January 2003, Bob was Senior Counsel at the Justice Department’s Environmental Enforcement Section (EES). His duties at EES included lead counsel in one of the largest of the cases brought by the Justice Department under the Clean Air Act against coal-fired power plants. Bob joined the Justice Department under the Attorney General’s Honor Program in 1992, after clerking for the Honorable James Lawrence King, Chief Judge of the Southern District of Florida.

Bob is originally from Boston and is a graduate of Carleton College, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Bob can be contacted at the following address:

Office of Regional Counsel
US EPA., Region 5 (C-14J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
Phone: (312) 886-1499
E-Mail: Kaplan.Robert@epa.gov
Support Staff: Cheryl Klebenow (312) 886-6771