Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced the appointment of an interim director of the Department of Environment and Energy on Wednesday.
Jesse Bradley will step into the role effective immediately, and continue his previous position as interim director of the Department of Natural Resources.
A press release stated Bradley was initially appointed as interim director of DNR in 2020, and was reappointed in August 2024. He worked across the state to implement the Nitrogen Reduction Incentive Act, which paid producers to reduce their nitrogen application.
Gov. Pillen said in the release Bradley shows steady leadership and pushes for new technologies in the department to make data-informed management decisions. He also has experience in water management and is a professional geologist.
LB317, introduced in January by Sen. Tom Brandt on behalf of the governor, would combine DNR and DEE into one combined agency if passed. The two would become the Department of Water, Energy and Environment, which Pillen said Bradley will continue to oversee.
“Water management is critical to the state of Nebraska – and we need to continue to innovate and improve water quantity and quality for the next seven generations,” Pillen said in the Wednesday press release. “Jesse’s vast experience in that area, coupled with his ability to bridge the gap between local needs, the state and federal regulators, make him strongly qualified to lead DNR and DEE when they are combined through passage of LB317.”