Bob Richard appointed as Deputy Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety

WASHINGTON (01/11/06) -- Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Acting Administrator Brigham McCown has announced the appointment of Bob Richard as the new Deputy Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety. Richard will help lead the Department of Transportation program office responsible for overseeing the safe and secure movement of more than 800,000 daily shipments of hazardous materials by all modes of transportation.

"Richard’s experience and knowledge of safety programs, coupled with his work ethic and commitment to transportation safety will prove to be important assets in our efforts to encourage shippers to take every possible measure to safeguard the movement of hazardous materials," McCown said.

Richard has been involved in developing hazardous materials safety regulations for more than 20 years and has been responsible for a broad range of domestic and international efforts related to the development of hazardous materials transportation regulations. He has coordinated transport safety policy issues with representatives from government agencies, industry, public safety advocate groups, emergency responders and the public.

Richard most recently served as PHMSA’s Director of the Office of Hazardous Materials International Standards where he represented the United States at international hazardous materials safety forums and was responsible for promoting harmonization of U.S. Hazardous Materials Regulations with international regulations. His work with government and transportation industry experts led to the development and implementation of consistent hazardous materials safety regulations across modes and world-wide.

Richard earned a Bachelor of Science Industrial Engineering Degree in 1985 and a Masters of Science Engineering Management Degree in 1990, from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ.