A former top official with New Hampshire’s environmental services agency has been appointed to run the Environmental Protection Agency’s New England Office.
Mark Sanborn, who served as assistant commissioner of New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services between 2021 and 2023, has worked in several federal and state government positions.
He holds a degree in political science from the University of New Hampshire, and previously held leadership positions at federal agencies overseeing housing and urban development, agriculture and transportation.
He served as an energy advisor for former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu in 2021 before working at the Department of Environmental Services, where he led state efforts to study offshore wind development, among other things.
In 2023, that agency received criticism after emails surfaced showing Sanborn and another regulator worked with an industry lobbyist on language for landfill regulations. A few months later, Sanborn resigned to take a job with North and South Construction Services. Sanborn said at the time his resignation was not related to the landfill regulations.
The current environmental services commissioner, Bob Scott, described Sanborn as a problem solver and praised his familiarity with New Hampshire.
“To me that's a win for New Hampshire,” Scott said, “because I think with Mark there, we'll have yet another way of effectively representing New Hampshire at the federal level now.”
Scott said there’s been uncertainty regarding the EPA’s role since the Trump Administration took office. In that time, federal officials have promised staff and funding cuts, and they’ve also taken steps to remove long standing environmental regulations.
“The key staff that support the primary mission and certainly provide services to the state here – it's important to us that they stay and be there,” Scott said. “Between having Mark there, and hopefully as things evolve, I'd like to see all that uncertainty settle out.”
Tom Irwin, vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation for New Hampshire, said he found Sanborn accessible and effective.
“He was actively involved in offshore wind in a way that we thought was constructive,” Irwin said.
But, he said, he’s not sure what to expect from Sanborn’s role with the EPA, given the Trump Administration’s moves to dismantle the agency.
“If Mark is hoping to go to EPA New England to advance that agency's very important mission of protecting the health of our communities and our environment in New England, our concern is that he will not have the authority to do so under this administration,” Irwin said.
