58 linear feet, 7 linear inches

The material in this collection covers Douglas M. Costle’s work with various environmental causes and organizations, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The collection contains correspondence, speeches, notes, reports, news clippings, oral histories, publications, legal and financial documents, campaign material, and miscellaneous printed material. This material relates to Costle’s work as EPA Director from 1977-1981; as Senior Staff Associate, Environmental and Natural Resources, for the President’s Advisory Council on Executive Organization (Ash Council) from 1968-1972; and as Deputy Commissioner, then Commissioner, of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection from 1972-1975.

Douglas M. Costle

Douglas Costle was born July 27, 1939 in Long Beach, California. He received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1961, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1964. From 1964-1965, he was a trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and from 1965-67, he served as attorney for the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

In 1967 he was associate attorney for the law firm of Kelso, Cotton, Seligman and Ray in San Francisco, and from 1968-69 was a senior associate at the urban policy planning law firm of Marshall Kaplan, Gans and Kahn, in the same city. From December 1969 to December 1970 he was Senior Staff Associate, Environmental and Natural Resources, for the President's Advisory Council on Executive Organization, where he headed the study which recommended the creation of EPA.

In 1971, Costle was a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. From January 1972 to July 1975 he was Deputy Commissioner, then Commissioner, of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. From March to July 1975 he was also a consultant to EPA on land use policies. From July 1975 to 1977, he was Assistant Director for Natural Resources and Commerce at the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, and prior to his EPA nomination was on President Carter's transition team for government organization.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Costle as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a position in which he served until 1981. As EPA administrator, Costle chaired the U.S. Regulatory Council and was President Carter's representative to NATO's Committee on the Challenges to a Modern Society and the United States Chair of the U.S. /U.S.S.R. Joint Committee on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection. He also served as the chair of the U.S./People's Republic of China Environmental Protection Protocol.

After leaving the EPA, Costle served as dean of the Vermont Law School from 1987 to 1991. With Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin, he helped to found the Institute for Sustainable Communities in 1991, a non-profit organization that builds environmental, economic and social infrastructure in existing and emerging democracies around the world. In 1994, Costle vied for Vermont's Democratic Party nomination to the United States Senate, losing in a primary to Jan Backus.

Costle passed away at his home in McLean, Virginia on January 13th, 2019.

Textual

The records of the Doug Costle Papers are divided into six series:

Doug Costle’s Subject Files

Scope and Content: Containers 1-65. This series was opened in 2015. This series consists of correspondence, memoranda, notes, briefing papers, legal documents, and other printed material. The bulk of this series focuses on Doug Costle’s tenure as director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Most of his work focused on environmental issues such as acid rain, energy, pollution, and hazardous waste. Also included are materials related to Costle’s work after the EPA, particularly as Dean of Vermont Law School and his partnership with Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin through the Institute for Sustainable Communities. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

 

Doug Costle’s U.S. Regulatory Council Files

Scope and Content: Containers 66-73. This series was opened in 2015. This series consists of correspondence, memoranda, notes, briefing papers, legal documents, reports, and other printed material. The material in this series relates to Doug Costle’s role as Chairman of the U.S. Regulatory Council. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

 

Doug Costle’s Ash Council Files

Scope and Content: Containers 74-95. This series was opened in 2015. This series consists of correspondence, memoranda, notes, briefing papers, legal documents, and other printed material. The material relates to Costle’s work on the Ash Council. The Ash Council was commissioned by President Richard Nixon in 1969, and was led by Roy Ash. Its purpose was to study whether all federal environmental activities should be unified under one agency. The final report issued by the commission led to the creation of EPA. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

 

Doug Costle’s Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Files

Scope and Content: Containers 96-106. This series was opened in 2015. This series contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, briefing papers, legal documents, and other printed material. The material relates to Doug Costle’s tenure as Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

 

Doug Costle’s Senate Campaign Files

Scope and Content: Containers 107-113. This series was opened in 2015. This series consists of correspondence, memoranda, notes, briefing papers, legal documents, campaign material, and other printed material. The material relates to Doug Costle’s 1994 primary campaign for senator in Vermont. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

 

Doug Costle’s Speech Files

Scope and Content: Containers 114-134. This series was opened in 2015. This series contains speeches, speech drafts, background information, travel/trip information, and conference material. The material includes speeches from the early seventies through the late nineties. The majority of this material relates to his expertise regarding environmental issues and causes. Some of the speeches have no dates or are categorized as various. Arranged chronologically.

These papers contain documents restricted in accordance with applicable executive order(s), which governs National Security policies, applicable statutes/agency restrictions, and material which has been closed in accordance with the donor’s deed of gift.

Copyright interest in these papers has been donated to the United States Government. Some of the records may be subject to copyright restrictions (i.e. newspapers, publications, etc.). Researchers should contact the publisher for further information.

Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum

441 Freedom Parkway NE Atlanta, GA 30307

Environmental issues

Acid rain

Energy

Foreign travel

Regulatory reform

Air pollution

Congressional hearings

1994 Senate campaign

Costle, Douglas Michael (1939-2019)

Backus, Jan (1947- )

Carter, Jimmy (1924-2024)

Ash, Roy L. (1918-2011)

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

U.S. Regulatory Council

Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT-DEP)

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

Presidential Council on Executive Organization (Ash Council)

Washington (D.C.)

Connecticut

Vermont

1968-2001

Separated material: Photographs

Doug Costle’s Subject Files

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Doug Costle’s U.S. Regulatory Council Files

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Doug Costle’s Ash Council Files

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Doug Costle’s Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Files

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Doug Costle’s Senate Campaign Files

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Doug Costle’s Speech Files

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