Commissioner Seggos: New Office Will Help Build Stronger, More Diverse DEC to Represent and Serve All New Yorkers

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today announced the agency is establishing its first-ever Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights. The new office will combine DEC’s current diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), accessibility, and Civil Rights efforts under the leadership of its incoming and first-ever Chief Diversity Officer, and will focus on enhancing collaboration and effectiveness of program delivery to employees and the public.

“I have made it a priority to diversify the agency’s workforce to better serve all of New York’s communities, especially those that are most disadvantaged,” Commissioner Seggos said. “Standing up a new Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights will help bring greater focus to this important work and advance DEC’s mission to protect public health and the environment across the state.”

DEC’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights will focus on four main objectives:

• Ensure compliance with Federal and State Civil Rights requirements;
• Expand DEC’s language access offerings both in written documents and public meetings;
• Ensure compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in DEC operations and implementation of Executive Order 31 to meet internal accessibility goals; and
• Oversee strategic planning and initiatives for workplace diversity inclusion and belonging.

DEC’s current DEI and accessibility programs and staff will be consolidated under the new Office and will help advise all of the agency’s programs and operations. The office will report to the Deputy Commissioner for Equity and Justice. DEC will announce the appointment of a new Chief Diversity Officer at a later date.

Today’s announcement represents an expansion of the agency’s equity and justice agenda under Commissioner Seggos. The agency established a new Equity and Justice portfolio in 2022 with the appointment of DEC’s first-ever Deputy Commissioner for Equity and Justice. The Deputy Commissioner will now oversee the new Office as well as the Office of Indian Nation Affairs and Office of Environmental Justice.