Cheryl Heying is the new director of the Utah Division of Air Quality, replacing the man who named her to the position.

Rick Sprott, who was appointed the executive director of the Department of Environmental Quality, had served as director of air quality. When he moved up the ladder, it was his job to choose his successor.

"Cheryl is an incredibly strong leader whose expertise in air quality issues is recognized throughout the West," Sprott said in a press release. "She is highly regarded by DEQ employees and stakeholders in Utah for her work in addressing such issues as mercury contamination, haze, particulate pollution and ozone."

He predicted that the division will shine under her leadership.

A DEQ press release noted that Heying began working with the Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste in 1988. Later, she went to Nevada for five years while her husband completed his medical residency program in Reno. "She returned to Utah and for the last six years has been the manager of the planning branch for the Division of Air Quality," the release states.

While in that position, she was charged with directing efforts to make state air pollution plans comply with federal air quality rules, including new regulations for fine particulates.

Sprott was appointed head of the DEQ when Dianne R. Nielson, who had filled that position, was named the new state energy adviser. Sprott's title will be acting director of the department until the Utah Senate confirms the new job, which is expected to happen on June 20.