Obama to nominate new leaders of PHMSA, FRA

June 1, 2015
US President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Marie Therese Dominguez to lead the US Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and Sarah Feinberg to lead the Federal Railroad Administration, the US Department of Transportation said on May 29.

US President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Marie Therese Dominguez to lead the US Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and Sarah Feinberg to lead the Federal Railroad Administration, the US Department of Transportation said on May 29.

The two DOT agencies, which are directly involved in regulating crude oil shipments by rail, have been without administrators for months. Dominguez has extensive transportation regulatory and management at the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies, US Sec. of Transportation Anthony Foxx said. Dominguez also has worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers on water resource transportation, Foxx added.

Feinberg, meanwhile, already has extensive experience at FRA, most recently during the Amtrak derailment north of Philadelphia, Foxx said. She has been active in rail safety issues, including those related to crude transportation by rail, he said.

The two DOT agencies and Canadian federal transportation agencies jointly issued regulations governing transportation of crude and other hazardous substances by rail on May 1 (OGJ Online, May 1, 2015).

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].