Appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2004 as Chief Counsel of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (“Department”), Mr. Swickard oversaw the Department’s Office of Legal Counsel of 24 attorneys and numerous support staff, the Criminal Investigation Branch of 10 Peace Officers, as well as the Forensic Investigation, CEQA, and Regulations Units.  In addition to providing ongoing legal advice to the Director and Department programs, Mr. Swickard initiated the Criminal Hazardous Waste Sting Unit targeting unlicensed transporters of hazardous waste, the Department’s Risk-Based Enforcement Initiative re-prioritizing enforcement resources to target violators posing the highest risk to public health and the environment, and the Mercury Lamp and E-Waste Compliance Enforcement Initiative.  He also initiated the Department’s Nusiance Law Site Cleanup Regulations and the AB 389 Brownfields Remediation Program jointly with the State Water Resources Control Board to facilitate remediation and reuse of smaller low risk brownfields sites.  During his tenure, Mr. Swickard also negotiated the final model Joint Consent Decree language between the State of California and the EPA.   

Governor Schwarzenegger later appointed Mr. Swickard to serve as the Director of the Department.  As the Department’s Director, Mr. Swickard further implemented the initiatives discussed above.

Mr. Swickard’s law practice includes the representation of large developers, public agencies, insurers, and resource conservation landowners in the areas of Federal and State environmental law and litigation, land use entitlement, real estate development, construction, natural resource regulation, environmental compliance and hazardous waste law, and water law. 

Before commencing his legal practice, Mr. Swickard served as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Edward C. Reed Jr., Senior Judge, United States District Court, District of Nevada, and for the Honorable Gregory G. Hollows, Chief Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, E.D. Cal.

Mr. Swickard received his Juris Doctor Cum Laude from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where he was awarded the Traynor Honor Society Award for Academic Excellence.  Mr. Swickard double majored in Agricultural Business Management and Biochemistry in receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of California, Davis, where he also received the Regents Scholarship Award for Academic Excellence.