The U.S. Senate confirmed new leaders at the Dept. of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, among 108 nominees who were approved en bloc Oct. 7.
The vote confirmed David Keeling as assistant secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Keeling has worked in safety at UPS and Amazon.
During a nomination hearing in June, Keeling laid out his priorities for OSHA. They include accelerating the adoption of technology and new standards to prevent injuries through informed design, expanding collaborations with companies, unions and industry groups, and updating enforcement processes using predictive analytics.
“We know David is a strong proponent of protecting workers, and his extensive knowledge and skills as a safety professional will certainly help the agency,” said Linda Tapp, president of the American Society of Safety Professionals, in a statement. “We look forward to working with him and his staff on many substantial issues.”
John Busterud is the new assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Solid Waste, a role that puts him in charge of the Superfund program. Busterud is an environmental attorney with previous experience at EPA, where he was administrator of Region 9, which covers California, Hawaii, Nevada, 148 tribes and Pacific Ocean U.S. territories, during the first Trump administration. He spent more than 30 years working for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) in San Francisco, including as senior director and managing counsel for environment and real estate. During his time at PG&E, Busterud also served as an industry representative on EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee.
“Mr. Busterud will oversee programs that directly impact Americans’ health and the environment, such as remediating PFAS contamination, cleaning up Superfund sites, and revitalizing brownfields,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chair of the Senate environment and public works committee, during a May hearing.
David Fink is administrator of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration. He got his start in the railroad sector as a teenager working for Conrail, and worked his way up to become president of Pan Am Railways, a regional railroad in New England that was later purchased by CSX.
During a Senate committee hearing in May, Fink said FRA needs to first focus on safety. He also wants to “refresh government regulations, innovating where possible and removing burdensome and outdated roadblocks.”
Paul Skoutelas, CEO of the American Public Transportation Association, said in a statement that Fink has a “proven record [of] advancing innovation and operational excellence.”
The 51-47 vote was the Senate’s second round of en bloc confirmations, taken after some Senate Republicans expressed frustration at the amount of time it was taking to confirm many nominees. The process allows lawmakers to confirm any number of nominees at once. The first en bloc round, approved last month, confirmed heads of the Federal Highway Administration and other agencies.
