Press Releases

Executive Director Hayman Brings Nationally Recognized Leadership in Water, Environmental Law and Public Infrastructure

New Orleans, LA - Executive Director Randy Hayman, Esq. is recognized as one of the nation's leaders in public utilities, environmental law, and infrastructure management, bringing more than three decades of executive, legal, and operational leadership overseeing some of the largest water and wastewater systems in the United States.

Throughout his career, Director Hayman has led organizations responsible for serving millions of residents while managing multi-billion-dollar capital improvement programs, nationally significant environmental initiatives, and complex regulatory and legal matters. His leadership has strengthened public infrastructure, enhanced environmental sustainability, expanded customer affordability programs, and modernized utility operations.

Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans

Executive Director 2025 (July) - present

Serves as Executive Director for the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (“SWBNO”), providing drinking water, wastewater collection, treatment, and stormwater management to the City of New Orleans. SWBNO provides water, wastewater, and drainage services to approximately 360,000 residents in Orlean Parish. SWBNO’s operating budget totals $467M, and the 30-year Capital Improvement Program under the Water Quality Master Plan totals $1.7B.

• Completed the final stages of a $300M Power Complex and power substation with Entergy Power which, with the use of Static Frequency Static Changers, converts 60Hz power to 25 Hz power to run existing drainage pumps critical to avoiding flooding.
• Completed a $2B Water Quality Master Plan identifying the next level of investment for our water treatment plants. The plan considers new water quality regulations, climate change, and saltwater intrusion. 
• Successfully created an Immediate Action Plan published Q2 2026 to address concerns regarding deteriorating water transmission mains. 34% of transmission mains are over 100 years old; replacement cost at $680M.
• Successfully capped a sewerage main break which released pollution into the Industrial Canal. Approximately 50M gallons of pollution was released. Early on conversations were held with top EPA officials. Directly involved in crisis management and communication outreach with state, city officials, and the public. Played key and active role in dealing directly with the press.
• Finalizing the introduction of Smart Meters into our infrastructure system, allowing customers to receive realtime data associated with their water usage. Customers who have a leak are able to save on average $40.
• Substantially completed the Sewer System Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program (SSERP) major construction.
• Created an Emergency Succession Plan for executives reporting to the board of directors.
• Enhanced Promise Pay Program which creates a safety net for customers having difficulty paying their bills by allowing them to enter into a payment plan based on their income. Prevented over 6,000 shut offs, saved customers $568,000 in waived late fees and recovered over $19M in past due bills since 2024.
• Partnered with state legislators to develop and advance legislation aurthorizing the use of public funds to replace lead service lines on private property resulting in a constitutional ammedment which will be included on the November 2026 ballot.
  • Secured $152M in Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for lead line replacements
  • Lead Service Line Replacements Program is estimated at $1.1B  for the replacements of all lead service lines. 
• Collaborated with state legislators to advance legilsation authorizing municipalities to carry out lead service line replacements without unnecessary delays, provided appropriate right-of-entry notices are issued to affected property owners. The legislation will accelerate infrastructure improvements while balancing public health priorities with property owner rights. 
• Partnered with state legilsators to advance legislation that streamlined the utility's procurement process, aligning it with procurement practices used by other state agencies. Successfully supported the bill through the legislative process, improving operational efficiency, consistency and regulatory compliance. 
• Completed an ADA compliant website for the utility. It is cloud hosted, eliminating dependency on SWBNO’s physical data center and improves user experience and equitable access goals.
• Replaced our 30-year-old mainframe financial system with a new cloud-based financial and budgeting system.
• Coordinated environmental testing and response protocols for mold hazards, collaborating with internal teams and environmental consultants to ensure regulatory compliance and risk mitigation 
• Led comprehensive Hurricane Plan workshops across all department to strengthen emergency preparedness and cross-functional coordination. 
• Commenced Zinc Orthophosphate pilot at treatment plant for enhanced corrosion control.
• Strong advances made in technology modernization:
  • Go-live of Oracle procurement and financial management system
  • Implementation for new Human Resources system
  • Procuring new Customer Information System (CIC) to replace Cogsdal
  • Design of asset management system underway
• Closed nearly 34,000 water, sewer and paving work orders 
• Hosted Water Talks Community meeting series across all districts 
• Executed strategic social media campaigns that increased the utilities online presence, expanded audience engagement and enhanced public awareness of utility initiatives 

PHILADELPHIA WATER DEPARTMENT Philadelphia, PA

Commissioner and CEO 2019 (June) – 2025

Served as Commissioner and CEO for the Philadelphia Water Department (“PWD”), providing drinking water, wastewater collection, treatment, and stormwater management to the 6th largest city in the United States. PWD serves approximately 1.7 million residents. The Department’s operating budget totals $553M and its Six-year Capital Budget (Fy’25- Fy’30) totals $5.9B.

• Led over 2,000 full-time employees.
• As Commissioner had full responsibility for the utility and oversees all key operating, contractual and human capital areas.
• Responsible for the overall daily operations and compliance of PWD’s facilities and infrastructure, including three (3) water and three (3) wastewater plants.
• As Commissioner provided executive management to staff, including providing organizational and reporting structures, professional development opportunities and creates organizational goals.
• Worked closely with Unions on significant issues.
• Responsible for the implementation of a 25 year Water Revitalization Plan, consisting of 400 individual projects at a $2.5B combined estimate, the largest investment in drinking water in Philadelphia in over a century.
• PWD’s Green City, Clean Waters plan is keeping 4 billion gallons of sewer overflow out of their rivers every year. PWD is on pace to meet our their 15-year goals in the 25-year program and Philadelphia neighborhoods are continuously getting greener, from schoolyards to parking lots.
• Responsible for the implementation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a $100M initiative to upgrade every home in the city with smart meter technology that will allow customers to track usage and save water.
• Successfully led PWD through the Covid-19 pandemic while consistently maintaining an “A” Rating
  • Fitch “A+”, Mody’s “A1” and S&P “A+”. All three ratings had a stable outlook.
• Testified before the U.S. Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee regarding the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the ongoing financial needs of water utilities. In 2023, in recognition of PWD’s reputation as a resourceful and effective utility, President Biden visited the Belmont Treatment Plant and presented PWD with more than $500M in financing for water infrastructure.
• Successfully expanded PWD’s nationally recognized customer assistant program named TAP (Tiered Assistance Program) to cover an additional 50,000 households by working with other municipal departments to leverage existing data, enacting automatic enrollment and identifying qualified applicants who had not applied.
• Worked with the City’s Human Resources office to establish a new “intern-to-hire” program that allows college-level interns working for PWD to qualify for civil service examinations prior to graduation so they can be quickly hired by PWD upon graduation. This will be crucial in expanding our workforce and increasing the rich diversity of PWD.
• Led the organization in the creation of PWD’s Strategic Plan, which will include input from staff, partnering departments, City Council, the Mayor’s Office, and customers.
• Successfully led the organization in preparing for a major union strike including providing necessary training, security, coordinating logistics and revised operation protocols.
• Worked with general counsel in strategizing legal issues affecting the organization.
• In consultation with the Deputy of Finance, developed the Operations and Construction budgets required to operate the utility.
• Communicated directly with the Mayor’s Office, City Council and public on important issues, especially emergency situations concerning the utility.
• Coordinated with the City and the Office of Emergency Management in the development of an effective and efficient systemwide response concerning safety issues and operations designed to address the ongoing emergency situation.

DC WATER Washington, DC

General Counsel 2010 (November) – 2016

Served as lead attorney for DC Water, the most technologically advanced water treatment facility in the world providing drinking water, wastewater collection, treatment and stormwater management to the nation’s capital and surrounding metropolitan area. DC Water’s fiscal year 2015 operating budget is $516 million dollars. The Office of the General Counsel operates on an annual budget of $6 million dollars. DC Water’s Capital Improvement lifetime budget is $9.4 billion. The current Long-Term Control Plan budget is $2.6 billion over its 20-year life.

• Led legal team of fifteen, including six attorneys.
• Provided representation and opinion in all legal matters affecting DC Water.
• Played key role in drafting, analyzing and negotiating major contracts and settlement agreements.
• Successfully negotiated in D.C. Superior Court a major settlement associated to a multimillion-dollar property damage case.

• Integrally involved in establishing the organization’s strategic and operational goals and sets organization’s legal agenda.

• Office of the General Counsel routinely successfully represented DC Water in matters involving personal injury, property damage, environmental issues, construction issues, environmental and safety compliance, human relations and labor issues, and collection matters.

• Provided the legal support and strategy for the issuance of over $440 million in bonds for a total of over $1 billion over career as general counsel.

• Assisted in developing legal strategy and preliminary framework for a significant innovative Green Infrastructure Partnership Agreement between the District, DC Water and EPA as part of an ongoing $2.6 billion consent decree modification.

• Led legal team which finalized a major multi-million dollar Intergovernmental Municipal Agreement (IMA) designed to equitably distribute wastewater treatment costs at DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant amongst the neighboring jurisdictions (the plant is the largest of its kind in the world, averaging 370 million treated gallons per day, and over one billion gallons per day at peak flow).

• Successfully defeated multimillion dollar class certification in major class action lead case.
• Provided the legal support and ongoing legal review for the world’s largest Thermal Hydrolysis Combined Heat and Power Project – the first in North America at the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. The $440 million project harnesses the wastewater treatment process to generate a net 10MW of electricity – providing 1/3 of the plant’s energy needs, resulting in saving of $10M - $15M annually in energy costs.
• Provided the legal underpinnings and ongoing legal review for the Enhanced Nutrient Removal Project designed to reduce the level of nitrogen from the cleansed wastewater that DC Water discharges to Potomac River. Once the $950 million project is complete, Blue Plains will produce effluent with some of the lowest levels of nitrogen in the country (Clean Rivers Project, Enhanced Nutrient Removal
• Handled and leads all significant corporate governance issues affecting DC Water.
• Conducted investigations in civil and criminal matters and worked parallel with appropriate law enforcement agencies.

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT St. Louis, MO

General Counsel 2000 (August) – 2010

Served as lead attorney for Metropolitan St. Louis, MO Sewer District (MSD) which provides wastewater collection, treatment and stormwater management to 1.4 million people in the St. Louis area. The Office of the General Counsel operates on an annual budget of approximately $3 million. MSD’s annual budget for fiscal year 2009 equaled approximately $400 million. In addition, MSD commenced a $3.7 billion Capital Improvement and Replacement Program (CIRP) developing over a fifteen-year period.

• Led legal team of eight including attorneys and two support staff.
• Played leading role in finalizing a $4.7B Consent Decree with United States Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Missouri Department of Natural Resources involving overflow issues and environmental impact.

• Supplied the legal underpinnings for a 15-year, $3.7 billion Capital Improvement and Replacement Program.

• Played key role in drafting, analyzing and negotiating major contracts and settlement agreements. Conduct investigation in criminal and civil matters and work parallel with appropriate law enforcement agencies.

• Provided legal support and strategy for the issuance of over $600 million in bonds.
• Office of the General Counsel routinely successfully represented MSD in matters involving personal injury, property damage, environmental issues, construction issues, environmental and safety compliance, human relations and labor issues, and collection matters.

• Provided representation and opinions in all legal matters affecting MSD.
• Integrally involved in establishing the organization’s strategic and operational goals, and sets organization’s legal agenda.

• Handled and led all significant corporate governance issues affecting MSD.
• Purchase of a $7.2M headquarters (original asking price $12.3M in 2002)
• Acquired and implemented a multimillion-dollar ES retooling System to be used organization- wide.

• Negotiated state and federal environmental consent decrees.
• Acquiried and implemented a state-of-the-art e-billing system to better monitor law firm fees and caseloads.

• Led lobbying efforts at state and federal levels.
• Instrumental in creation of MSD’s first independent Rate Commission, and subsequent successful presentment of stormwater and wastewater rate increases.

AWARDS:

• PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL, Diversity in Business Award, 2024
• PHILADELPHIA TITAN 100, Titan Award – Hall of Fame (Philadelphia’s Top CEOs), 2024
• PHILADELPHIA TITAN 100, Titan Award (Philadelphia’s Top CEOs), 2023
• PHILADELPHIA TITAN 100, Titan Award (Philadelphia’s Top CEOs), 2022
• GLOBAL PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION, Sustainability Award, 2022
• WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, Legal Champions Award (Washington’s Top General Counsels), 2014
• WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, Minority Business Leader Award, 2014
• ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL, Most Influential Minority Business Leader Award, 2007

In addition, Executive Director Hayman has proudly served as an assistant attorney general for the state of Missouri and was a partner at the oldest and largest environmental law firm in the United States headquartered in Washington, D.C.   He served as part of the environmental monitoring team retained by the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee Volkswagen’s compliance with a $2.8 billion Criminal Plea Agreement and Consent Decree after the company pled guilty to committing environmental fraud. Involved extensive travel and work in Germany.

Randy Hayman  serves on the boards of the National Association of Water Agencies and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and he is a former board member of the Water Research Foundation. Through these leadership roles, he provides a voice for the utility at the national level, helping shape policy discussions and advance the interests of the water sector. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Georgetown University Law Center.