Posted March 5, 2013

Gov. Terry Branstad has appointed five Iowans to the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, one being a past president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

The governor announced the appointments March 1 and all must be approved by the Iowa Senate.

Dr. Gene Ver Steeg, a pork producer and veterinarian from Inwood who was IPPA president in 2006, will begin a four-year term on the commission on May 1, if confirmed by the Senate.

“I’m excited to be part of the EPC again and help work toward cleaner water and air in Iowa,” Ver Steeg said.

Ver Steeg previously served on the EPC from 2008 until May 1, 2011.

The governor’s other EPC appointees are Cynthia Greiman of Garner; Alan Koch of Johnston; Robert Sinclair from Williamsburg and Joanne Stockdale of Okoboji.

The EPC consists of nine members appointed by the governor. Commissioners serve staggered four-year terms. State law requires that three members be actively engaged in livestock and farming. One member must be active in business and finance, one must be engaged in the management of a manufacturing company and four members are electors of the state.

The Environmental Protection Commission provides policy oversight for Iowa’s environmental protection efforts. It adopts rules, hears appeals in contested cases and approves budgets. The EPC was created in 1986 after several agencies were merged into the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.