Type Of Business:
International Development Consulting Company
Expertise:
Mr. Schramm's expertise include development of environmental programs, legal analysis, drafting of laws and regulations, institutional strengthening and designing. He also has experience in Environmental Management Systems, including the adaption of EMS organization and the principles to industrially impacted urban centers and watersheds. He is currently expanding his consultancy services to strengthening democratic institutions of governance and the rule of law.
Favorite Business Publication:
The Economist
Hobbies/Sports:
Boating, Reading, Politics
Education Degrees:
JD, School of Law, Washington University in St. Louis (1959); Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Philosophy, Colgate University
Affiliations Awards:
Missouri Bar Association; Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States; Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis; Associate, Environmental Law Institute; Charter Member, U.S. Senior Executive Service; Former Member. Editorial Advisory Board, The Environmental Forum Magazine; Former President, Greater St. Louis Chapter, United Nations Association of the United States of America
Children's Names:
Lori, Adam, Justin, Taylor, Kelly
Expanded Biography:
Mr. Schramm, having accumulated over 35 years of relevant experience at high levels of government and industry, is currently an environmental management and regulatory specialist in developing and emerging economies worldwide with expertise in: the development of environmental programs in all media; legal analysis and the drafting of laws and regulations; the integration of command-and-control and market-based systems to promote cleaner production; compliance techniques and training; and strategic analysis in the re-structuring of institutions for the delivery of integrated environmental programs. In particular, Mr. Schramm is one of the world's leading specialists in the application of Environmental Management System principles to the management of environmentally impacted large urban settlements and watersheds. Mr. Schramm has worked in some 25 countries on five continents for clients such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, The World Bank, The Asian Development Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Mr. Schramm's successful earlier careers informed and strengthened his achievements in the international consulting field, which have required the convergence of political, management, legal, economic, and technical skills. From his platform as a practicing lawyer in St. Louis, Missouri, he moved to his state's political arena, encouraged by supporters of his problem solving and people skills. As an elected member of his state's Legislature for eight years, he specialized in environmental and urban legislation that often moved his state into a ranking position in the country. He provided problem-solving leadership in a wide range of environmental matters, authoring and then floor-managing the enactment of major revisions to his state's environmental laws, creating in the process a comprehensive environmental program for his state. His initiative included convening and leading a panel of environmental and legal experts to develop this program, which became known as 'the Schramm Environmental Package' (10 bills) and for which he 'stumped' the state to win public support. In addition, as Chairman of the House Municipal Corporations Committee and Vice-Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he helped shape the executive powers of his state's local governments and made significant contributions to numerous complex areas of his state's laws (e.g., taxes, housing, infrastructure, among others). Following his first term and selection by his fellow legislators as 'the outstanding first termer' (and then runner-up to the selection of House Majority Floor Leader, a rare showing after just one term), Mr. Schramm's work was later recognized by: the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University one of the outstanding legislators in the nation, the state's three leading environmental NGOs for his environmental leadership and outstanding contributions to protecting the state’s natural resources, The Wall Street Journal (crediting him in a national front page feature with 'beginning to impact state governments around the nation'), and The St. Louis PostDispatch ('one of the most effective legislators ever to sit in the House of Representatives'). Later, Mr. Schramm won the nomination of his party in a hard-fought primary election for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Missouri, but lost in the general election by just one vote per precinct while his party's nominees for President and Governor, over him, were swept away in a landslide.
Mr. Schramm later moved to the executive branch of the Federal government. He was appointed Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region III office in Philadelphia, where he was responsible for administering all federal environmental laws in five Mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C. (pop. c. 25 million), including supervision of a scientific, engineering, and legal staff of nearly 600 persons. He also managed over $2 billion in regional budget and grant programs in this environmentally troubled Region where the steel, coal, chemical, and power industries exerted strong political influence, and where the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred during Mr. Schramm's tenure. Mr. Schramm's personal role in achieving a high degree of compliance in the Region notwithstanding obstacles earned him the offer of a Presidential appointment as EPA's national enforcement chief, which he declined.
Before he entered the consulting field, Mr. Schramm established the first regulatory affairs office in Washington, D.C. for Waste Management, Inc., the world's largest environmental services firm (75,000 employees worldwide), and, as regulatory director, contributed to the formulation of national environmental policy with the U.S. Congress and EPA. He addressed such issues then as chemical waste management, detoxification technology, transportation, facility sitting, financial responsibility, risk assessment, and ocean incineration, among others.
Mr. Schramm entered the consulting field in 1989 as leader of the institutional strengthening practice of PA Consulting Group in Washington, D.C., a London-based worldwide management consultancy, and, since 2001, has been Managing Director of his own firm, Environmental Management Counsel, LLC, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. His recognition by Cambridge Who's Who for showing dedication, leadership, and excellence in all aspects of legal consulting in the international development field, was a precursor to his selection by the Editorial Committee as Professional of the Year for 2009.
He has lectured and made presentations on his work before diverse audiences, including, among others, the U.S. Congress, several state legislatures, USAID headquarters, EPA regional offices, the Mediterranean Council of Environmental Ministers, universities, TV and radio outlets, The Environmental Law Institute, chambers of commerce and industry, and the environmental, industrial, and finance ministries of many countries.
Mr. Schramm has a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in politics and philosophy from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. He summer studied in Mexico in language and culture under the auspices of the Experiment in International Living. Mr. Schramm has established a scholarship for students of environmental policy at his alma mater, Colgate. As a student, Mr. Schramm
traveled extensively throughout the Middle East by motorcycle, and had two years of United States military service as a paratrooper.
Highlight of career?:
The most gratifying aspect of his career has been the recognition by the donor agencies of the validity and usefulness of the area-wide Environmental Management System (EMS), which he pioneered for environmentally impacted urban settlements and watersheds. He used the 1996 ISO 14001 promulgation in Geneva of the EMS for single organizations or facilities as an organizing principle for adaptation to area-wide settlements that were subject to multiple industrial impacts. He added programmatic and institutional planning to the EMS, and also experimented with the development of economic incentives as a centerpiece for the EMS in order to stimulate investment in cleaner production. Today there is widespread interest in the integration of economic incentive strategies into command-and-control techniques and adjusting institutional functions to their implementation. These issues have become the next level of environmental management.
Charity:
St. Louis Scholarship Foundation
Number Of Years In Profession:
35
What Does He/She Attribute Success To:
He attributes his success to being at the right place at the right time.
How Did They Get Involved In Profession:
He attributes his success to being in the right place at the right time. He didn't intend to make a career in environmental law, policy, and management, but those issues were on the public's mind when he started working as an elected member of his state's legislature. At that time, the states were on the front line in addressing pollution issues so he tackled those issues because they needed attention. The Federal government then federalized environmental issues because the states were uneven in their treatment of the issues, and that's when Mr. Schramm arrived at EPA where important battles were fought and government needed to be a strict referee. Then, in 1992, at the Rio Summit, the developing world 'got religion' about environmental issues, as Mr. Schramm puts it, and that's when he arrived on the consulting scene. The first things necessary were to construct laws, regulations, and the institutions to administer them, and those were areas that Mr. Schramm had skills and a good deal of experience. So, being at the right place at the right time was important to gaining traction in his field.
Day to Day Responsibilities:
Integrating Command and Control and Market-Based Systems to Promote Cleaner Production, Compliance Techniques and Training, Conducting Strategic Analysis in Restructuring Institutions for the Delivery of Integrated Environmental Programs, Consulting, Assisting in Structuring Environmental Programs
Education Certifications:
Summer Study in Mexico under Auspices of Experiment in International Living
Awards/Honors:
Numerous Awards and Honors for Legislative Achievement as Member, Missouri House of Representatives; Various Who's Who Publications Awards; Special Services Award, Missouri Bar Association; Certificate of Distinction for Outstanding Service in the Administration of Justice, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis; Pioneer of the Nuke Watch Award, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency