EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said Wednesday she met with President Bush at the White House on Tuesday afternoon and tendered her resignation as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, effective June 27.

In a letter to the president, Whitman said, "It has been a singular honor to be entrusted with the responsibility to lead the EPA in its effort to leave America's air cleaner, its water purer and its land better protected than it was when this Administration took office."
In a statement released later, Bush called Whitman "a trusted friend and adviser who has worked closely with me to achieve real and meaningful results to improve our environment.
"Christie Todd Whitman has served my administration exceptionally well," he said. "I thank her for her outstanding service to our nation and wish her well as she returns to New Jersey."
Whitman said she is leaving after a 2 1/2-year stint as EPA administrator to return to her home and her husband in New Jersey.
Among her top accomplishments, the 56-year-old EPA chief said, were "our actions to reduce pollution from nonroad diesel engines," which was, she said, "in the words of one major environmental organization, the ‘biggest public health step’ in more than 20 years."
Whitman made sure consent degrees signed by engine manufacturers in 1998 were implemented last Oct. 1, ignoring requests for delays by some diesel engine builders.
In her resignation letter, Whitman defended the Bush administration's environmental policies, which have been under attack by environmentalists.
"Our work has been guided by the strong belief that environmental protection and economic prosperity can and must go hand-in-hand," she wrote.