A Legacy of Leadership: DOE Attorney Retires, Reflects on His Career and Evolution of the Department

After nearly half a century of numerous contributions to the Department of Energy (DOE), Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Environment Steven Miller has retired. Miller was a dedicated attorney in the field of environmental law and advised the Office of Environmental Management (EM) and the Office of Legacy Management (LM) on environmental issues, focusing on legacy sites across the country.

While Miller didn’t know his career would lead him to DOE, he always had a passion for helping the environment. During an LM oral history session in 2022, Miller delved into what led him to his career and why. LM’s oral history project aims to preserve the history of the DOE through personal experiences and interviews.

“I was reading the newspapers since the time I was in fourth grade and was interested in real-world problems and addressing those kinds of issues,” said Miller. “I always had an interest in tech, and more specifically trains, and learned the New York subway station by the time I was 5, so I thought I would become an urban planner for the city.”

After enrolling at New York University, Miller joined an experimental program called the “Metropolitan Leadership Program in the Liberal Arts,” which was intended to train future governmental career employees in interdisciplinary problem solving and then advising senior political leaders how to address these issues.

“I did some internships in urban planning and related subjects at the New York Department of Planning, and also worked with scientists and engineers,” added Miller. “I decided that my career path should be different, because planners back then didn’t have a lot of influence in what is actually planned in cities.”

Miller decided he was going to shift his focus to becoming an attorney. “Lawyers do not just legal work in law firms but also do governmental work that involves their skills. They do plan in some of those capacities as well, so I decided to try that.” 

After finishing his undergrad studies at NYU, Miller went to law school and enrolled in a joint degree program with the Graduate School of Urban Planning. Miller finished his grad school program early, taking classes in environmental law and environmental research and finishing with two degrees in law and urban planning in three calendar years. 

From there, Miller did internships with environmental groups, who worked on extending and revitalizing an old rail line in upstate New York. Miller eventually found an honors intern program through the law school placement office, which had an opening.

“I didn’t really want to leave New York. I was wedded to New York and wanted to be a part of its future. However, I was intrigued with how this program was described and that it was an evolving field with a lot of problems that needed to be solved,” said Miller. “I applied and ended up getting in and moving to Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Virginia and working in Germantown (Maryland) and Washington, D.C. for the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA).” 

After working with ERDA for a month, Miller received a distinguished service award for his work and a month after that, ERDA was absorbed into what is now DOE. Miller’s role continued with the creation of DOE, primarily covering National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents and helping look at sites that had been closed out and what kind of records should be preserved. 

“I think in total, I’ve served DOE for about 48 years,” Miller said in a recent interview with LM Support Partners.

Over the years, Miller’s role continued to transform. Not only did he serve as an advisor for LM and EM, but he also performed work in relation to property site transfer issues and PFAs contamination. Miller also played a role in Feds Feed Family, mentoring interns, and various projects.

“My favorite thing about working within the DOE is being able to share and learn.  I love working with interns and sharing the best of the past and bringing that together with the future and solving problems and creating things,” said Miller. “I also really love working with LM. They really value my work, and I enjoy working with LM leadership.” 

Miller’s work within LM didn’t go unnoticed. In September 2025, LM Director Carmelo Melendez awarded Miller with a Distinguished Service Award. Melendez presented the award with a letter thanking Miller for his service and for his continued “professionalism, unequivocal commitment, and expertise.”  

 In addition to this, Miller has quite a few achievements he is proud of throughout the tenure of his career. 

“I would probably say the things that stick out are the legislative work I’ve done with the reauthorization of CERCLA, which I received an award from the Reagan administration for, and helping create and develop the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program,” said Miller. “I’m also proud to have had the good fortune to mentor probably hundreds of students.”

As for what Miller plans to do after retirement, he hopes to continue his work through volunteering and consulting, if the opportunity arises. 

“I’m looking forward to a new phase of life to have more time to pursue outside interests that I haven’t had the time to do,” he said.