RALEIGH Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Michael Regan announced key appointments to his leadership team on Monday.Regan named retired Col. John A. Nicholson as the agency’s chief deputy secretary. Nicholson served 28 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and was the military affairs adviser to two North Carolina governors. Nicholson has advanced energy efficiency and environmental conservation initiatives while in the military.Sheila Holman has been named DEQ’s assistant secretary for the Environment. Holman led the state’s Division of Air Quality for the last six years.Regan also selected attorney Bill Lane to serve as DEQ’s general counsel. For the past 20 years, Lane has worked for Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in Raleigh representing a variety of business and governmental clients on issues related to energy, air quality, waste management and water quality.Andy Miller was named by Regan to be DEQ’s legislative affairs director and Jamie Kritzer will be DEQ’s acting deputy secretary for public affairs.
