Richard Spiese has a B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University in Geological Sciences. Richard has been with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Waste Management Division since 1987. His job duties include overseeing the cleanup of hazardous waste sites in the Sites Management Section, responding to spills on the Waste Management Division's Spill Team, and responding to hazardous materials emergencies as part of the Public Safety Division's Vermont Hazardous Materials Response Team. In February 2016, he began investigation of PFAS contamination in Bennington Vermont, which continues today. Richard has been part of the EPA Region I Regional Response Team as the governor's designee since 1992 and on the State Emergency Response Commission since 1994. He has been on the ASTSWMO Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Task Force 1994 to 2008, and was the co-chair from 1996-2010. He rejoined this Task Force in 2014 and just recently stepped down from this position. Richard joined the Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council Board of Advisors in 2016 as the State At-Large Member. In 2017, he was asked to become the Team Leader Liaison on the Board, which he accepted. At the 2018 Annual Meeting he was elected co-chair of ITRC for 3 years, a position he currently holds. He currently serves as a co-leader of the ITRC PFAS Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) writing subgroup.