WASHINGTON (08/11/06) -- Acting Secretary of Transportation Maria Cino has announced the appointment of Stacey Gerard as the assistant administrator and chief safety officer of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA). She will be the first person to hold this position. Prior to this announcement, Gerard had served as the acting assistant administrator and chief safety officer and as the associate administrator for pipeline safety since PHMSA’s reorganization on Feb. 20, 2005.

As part of the 2004 Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act, Congress established the position of chief safety officer within PHMSA in order to ensure the highest degree of safety in pipeline and hazardous materials transportation.

"We have Stacey to thank for the many significant improvements that have been made to pipeline safety over the past few years," said Acting Secretary Cino. "Her record of accomplishment will serve this nation well in this latest challenge."

Gerard is charged with establishing and overseeing agency-wide safety and security policies, objectives and priorities for the transportation of hazardous materials by all modes of transportation, including pipelines.

Ted Willke, PHMSA’s deputy associate administrator for pipeline safety, will serve as the acting associate administrator for pipeline safety and will manage PHMSA's pipeline safety program for the nation's 2.3 million miles of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines.