Leavitt never really got his feet wet in the EPA job, although he was under increasing attacks by conservation groups for Bush environmental policies that allegedly have undermined long-standing protections.

Leavitt spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman said there has been no decline in environmental protection under Leavitt's watch.

"I don't know what they are referring to," Bergman said in a recent interview, "and yes, I am frustrated. These are broad-based allegations that aren't substantiated by the facts. They are scare tactics."

Bergman rattled off a list of EPA accomplishments, all of which involve tougher environmental protections, during Leavitt's short tenure. Among them are the first-ever emissions restrictions on mercury, new standards on pollutants called PM2.5 and tough enforcement of new ozone standards.

Leavitt visited 43 states in the past year on different environmental initiatives. He has visited the Great Lakes states about a dozen times to forge bipartisan partnerships on a comprehensive plan to clean up the lakes.

Bergman also pointed out Leavitt worked with a bipartisan coalition of Great Lakes lawmakers and local officials to secure federal funding to build a barrier to keep out the Asian carp, a serious threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem.

One of many partners in that effort was Chicago's Democratic Mayor Richard Daley.

"He has spent a lot of time up there building relationships, and it has been an across-the-board bipartisan effort," Bergman said. "The results speak for themselves up there."

Hatch said Leavitt will be most remembered at EPA for putting an end to the "screaming and shouting" that was tearing the agency apart. But Leavitt never really had the time as administrator to launch the kind of changes that would stamp the agency with a long-term legacy.

"But he has had them running on a steady course," Hatch said.

While Leavitt leaves behind the unrelenting barbs from the environmental community, he will undoubtedly now be the object of withering criticism from advocates for the poor and elderly. But he insists he is up for the challenge.

"I look forward to the implementation of the Medicare prescription drug program in 2006, medical liability reform and finding ways to reduce the cost of health care," he said in a speech accepting the nomination. "I'm persuaded that we can use technology and innovation to meet our most noble aspirations and not compromise our other values that we hold so dear."

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E-mail: spang@desnews.com