[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 83 (Wednesday, June 12, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RECOGNIZING CHUCK HERSEY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 2013

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of Southeast 
Michigan's environmental leaders, Chuck Hersey, on the occasion of his 
retirement from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments after 35 
years of dedicated service.
  After graduating with a degree in Environmental Studies from the 
University of Michigan-Dearborn, Chuck joined SEMCOG in the spring of 
1978 as a co-op research assistant. He was promptly hired full time to 
work on transportation planning, and was promoted to the position of 
Air Quality Planner in 1980. Since that time, Chuck has been intimately 
involved in our region's implementation strategy for meeting air 
quality goals. Over the course of many years, he has also worked 
tirelessly in the cause of improving water quality in Michigan.
  SEMCOG was formed over 40 years ago to fill a vital need--to bring 
together distinct communities in Southeast Michigan, and provide a 
forum to help them plan and work together for the common good. The 
philosophy at the heart of SEMCOG is that the whole is sometimes 
greater than the sum of its parts, and that our region faces challenges 
we can only meet by working together.
  Chuck's work on air pollution is a good example. Air pollution does 
not recognize political boundaries. You can't deal with ozone and 
particulate pollution unless you are able to look at pollution on a 
regional basis, and then develop strategies that both meet the health-
based standards of the Clean Air Act and are achievable and cost-
effective. This is precisely the work that has occupied Chuck during 
his tenure at SEMCOG, whether it was his efforts behind the formation 
of a Southeast Michigan Ozone Strategy; his work on air quality 
attainment strategies; and his development of the Ozone Action! 
Program, which became a national model on air quality education.
  I am also grateful for the work Chuck and SEMCOG have done to advance 
water quality improvements in Lake St. Clair, and, in particular, his 
efforts to advance the Lake St. Clair Strategic Implementation Plan.
  Among his other accomplishments, Chuck holds a Masters in Public 
Administration from the University of Michigan. He is the devoted 
husband of Agnes, and father of Mathew and Angela. Chuck and Agnes have 
two grandchildren, Cameron and Giovanni.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Chuck 
Hersey for his commitment to the citizens of Michigan as well as our 
state's precious environment.

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