Mohsen Nazemi holds a M.S. degree in chemical engineering from University of California at Los Angeles with a thesis in the field of air pollution control, and a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from California State University at Long Beach. He also earned his Professional Engineer certification in chemical engineering from the State of California as well as his Certified Hazardous Materials Manager credentials from the National Academy of Hazardous Materials Management in Rockville, Maryland, and from the University of California at Irvine.
Mr. Nazemi is the Assistant Deputy Executive Officer at the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) which is the largest air pollution control agency in the U.S. He works in the office of Engineering and Compliance, which is responsible for all permitting and compliance programs for stationary sources within AQMD’s four-county jurisdiction.
Mr. Nazemi also serves as the Permit Streamlining Ombudsman for AQMD, overseeing AQMD’s Permit Streamlining Office. In addition, Mr. Nazemi is responsible for the AQMD’s Economic Development and Business Retention Program, which helps area businesses prosper while helping to achieve regional clean air standards.
For more than 25 years Mr. Nazemi has held several different positions within AQMD. Among them, he served as Senior Manager in charge of the Refinery/Energy & Outer Continental Shelf section. In this position he was responsible for rule development, permitting and compliance of all refineries, oil and gas production and transfer facilities and all public and private power producing facilities. Before this, he headed AQMD’s Air Toxics and Global Climate Changes Strategies group. He also was responsible for policy development and coordination of state and federal programs, as well as permitting of waste management projects.
Before joining AQMD, Mr. Nazemi worked for the private sector developing various catalytic processes.
Mr. Nazemi has served as the Chair or a member of numerous interagency, statewide, and national committees as well as Boards. He has also taught several environmental courses at University of California at Irvine. He has been an Orange County resident since 1971 and presently resides with his wife and two children (one son and one daughter) in Newport Beach.