Gina McCarthy has been confirmed by a 59-40 Senate vote to serve as the next head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency according to Resource Recycling July 19th 2013. The confirmation followed more than four months of grueling debate between Democrats and Republicans over issues of transparency and data collection at EPA. A Boston native, McCarthy is known for her common-sense, science-driven approach and a rare ability to work with environmental groups and industry leaders. She served under both Democratic and Republican leadership and is said to be a friend of the electronics recycling industry. One of McCarthy’s most important achievements came in 2007, when she led a successful legislative push to pass an e-scrap producer responsibility law in Connecticut that called on manufacturers to handle the collection and safe management of their end-of-life products. My own commentary on this appointment is that presently there is no federal legislation regarding electronics recycling, rather it is a patchwork of individual state legislation, each uniquely different, that exists amongst only twenty-six states, Florida not being one of them. Perhaps under McCarthy’s leadership she will bring electronics recycling experience that may lead to federal legislation so that we all (states) are on the same page when it comes to dealing with responsible electronics recycling