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Hearings set for FMCSA, hazmat safety nominees

A Senate committee will have a Sept. 23 hearing on presidential nominees to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The Senate Commerce, Transportation and Science Committee will conduct the full committee hearings. A simply majority Senate vote is required for confirmation.

On June 4, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Anne Ferro for FMCSA administrator, which he confirmed July 17, and Cynthia Quarterman, to administrate the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Ferro heads the Maryland Motor Truck Association and serves on regional advisory committees on freight planning, highway safety and transportation funding. She was Maryland’s Motor Vehicle Administrator from 1997 to 2003, where she is credited with leading the effort establish a graduated licensing program for new state drivers.

Quarterman is a partner with the Washington D.C. law firm, Steptoe & Johnson. She is a past director of the Minerals Management Service at the Department of the Interior, which oversees the leasing, exploration and resource development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, including the hazardous materials pipeline transportation.

The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association and American Trucking Association have praised Ferro’s nomination, while the Teamsters have blasted her for supporting for the current hours-of-service rule.

In a July 24 letter to committee members, the Parents Against Tired Truckers, the Center for Auto Safety and other environmental and health groups described her as an “apologist for the failure of FMCSA to improve the safety record of motor carriers.”

Rose McMurray, an FMCSA assistant administrator and chief safety officer, has served as FMCSA administrator since the Obama administration began.

Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) chairs the committee with ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). The hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and a live webcast will be available at http://commerce.senate.gov .

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