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8/18/2009    Government Posts

New leader pegged for USDOT's haz-mat arm; NTSB and NMB make management changes

On Friday, President Obama announced his intention to nominate Cynthia Quarterman as administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which governs the transportation of hazardous materials via rail, pipeline and truck.
 
She is a partner in law firm Steptoe & Johnson L.L.P.’s Washington, D.C., office, where she maintains a regulatory and litigation practice in the areas of transportation and natural resources. Quarterman has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation of hazardous materials by pipeline, including a stint as director of the U.S Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service.

Meanwhile, Christopher Hart was sworn in last week as a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member. A previous NTSB member from 1990 to 1993, Hart now will serve a term expiring Dec. 31, 2012.

He most recently was deputy director for air traffic safety oversight at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Hart previously served as FAA assistant administrator for the Office of System Safety and deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Finally, the National Mediation Board (NMB) named Denise Hedges senior mediator to succeed Linda Puchala, who now will serve as a board member.
 
Hedges joined the NMB in May 2000 as a mediator. She has more than 30 years of airline industry experience and 25 years of labor relations experience, including eight years as president of a major airline union.