Steve Owens was appointed ADEQ director by Governor Janet Napolitano in January 2003. Before joining ADEQ, Steve was a practicing environmental attorney in Phoenix for 14 years. Steve graduated with honors from Brown University in 1978 and received his law degree in 1981 from Vanderbilt Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review. From 1982-84, Steve served as counsel to the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology. From 1985-88, he was chief counsel and later state director for then U.S. Senator Al Gore.

Steve has served on numerous environmental panels, including the Governor's Climate Change Advisory Group, the EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation, the Phoenix Environmental Quality Commission, and the Clean and Diversified Energy Advisory Committee of the Western Governors Association. He also has written and lectured on Arizona environmental law and policy.

Steve and his wife Karen have two sons, John and Ben.