Johnson fixed that. He played a key role in reversing the ban, Graham said, fulfilling a goal shared by Bush and the pesticide industry.
"The White House loved Steve because he was the ultimate staffer," said another Republican colleague who worked at EPA. "He knew how to get things done."
When Whitman abruptly resigned in 2003, Johnson filled a void in the No. 2 slot - as acting deputy administrator - then remained when former Utah governor Michael Leavitt was named administrator. In 2005, when Leavitt got the job he really wanted - secretary of health and human services - Johnson became acting administrator. He lobbied for the top job, competing with three others.
Hazen said she warned her friend that the second Bush term would be fraught with complicated, nuanced decisions, and was destined to be controversial.
"My question to him was: Do you really want this? You've had a phenomenal career. You are well-respected. Do you really want to be the one making these hard decisions, charting new territory?"
Ethics 101
Ironically, Johnson's success at restoring human testing while assistant administrator nearly derailed his Senate confirmation for the top job.
One of the new human tests was the Children's Health Environmental Exposure Research Study (CHEERS). Funded with $2 million from the chemical industry, CHEERS proposed to record the effects of household pesticides on low-income children in Florida. EPA gave participating families $970, a video camera to record exposure, and a CHEERS T-shirt, calendar and baby bib. EPA scientists would collect urine samples and the children would wear a watch-size sensor one week each month.
Several Democrats were aghast. Boxer and other Democrats put a public hold on his nomination.
"Ethics 101: Testing pesticides on small children and infants is wrong," Boxer said. "This is sick. It's a sick, sick thing."
