Mahar takes helm as interim DEC commissioner
May 1—ALBANY — The state Department of Environmental Conservation has a new commissioner, on an interim basis for now.
Sean Mahar, a longtime DEC employee who most recently served as executive deputy commissioner starting in 2022, was elevated to run the agency after commissioner Basil B. Seggos stepped down in mid-April after more than eight years on the job. Meanwhile, Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul is conducting a national search to find the next commissioner.
Mahar, a Capital Region resident and graduate of Siena College, has worked as the DEC's assistant commissioner of public affairs, and spent more than 13 years as the director of government relations for Audubon New York, an environmental nonprofit focused on protecting avian species and their habitats.
Shortly after Bloomberg's Albany bureau broke the news that Sean Mahar would be the interim DEC commissioner, Seggos wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the agency is lucky to have Mahar at its helm.
"He has been an extraordinary leader at the agency for many years, and is so well-positioned to step in as Interim (Commissioner)," Seggos wrote. "Do us proud, my friend!"
