FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 25, 1996

Lowry names McKay to chair Puget Sound Action Team

OLYMPIA - Gov. Mike Lowry today named the former executive director of the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Nancy McKay, to serve as chairwoman of the newly created Puget Sound Action Team.

"Nancy's experience and her clear commitment to protecting and enhancing the Puget Sound make her an obvious choice for this important post," Lowry said. "The Puget Sound is our top natural resource in western Washington and we must do everything we can to protect this unique and vital body of water."

McKay, 50, has served as executive director of the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority since 1990 and has been with the authority since its inception in 1985, serving first as deputy director.

However, the PSWQA's authorization expires on June 30, 1996. The newly created action team will assume many of the authority's responsibilities and its $1.3 million budget.

The 13-member action team will include state agency heads from the departments of Ecology, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife, Community, Trade and Economic Development, Health, Transportation, the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation, Parks and the Conservation Commission as well as county and city representatives.

The action team will develop a biennial work plan and budget, coordinate research programs, periodically amending the Puget Sound Plan and improving inter-agency coordination of the plan.

The new law also creates a nine-member Puget Sound council to advise the action team on work plan projects. The council will be responsible for tracking the progress of state agencies and local governments in implementing the work plan.

McKay, whose position will be part of the governor's office, will chair both the action team and the council. She will earn $78,811 and start on July 1.

Before joining the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority staff, McKay worked for the Association of Washington Cities and the Washington State Association of Counties on energy policies and programs.

She received a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.

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For more information, contact the Governor's Communications Office, (360)753-6790.