Howard “Skip” Elliott was recently sworn in as administrator of the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) (Washington, DC) by Secretary Elaine L. Chao at U.S. Department of Transportation (Washington, DC) headquarters.
Elliott joins PHMSA following his recent retirement from rail company CSX Transportation (Jacksonville, Florida), where he served as vice president of public safety, health, environment, and security.
His portfolio at CSX included work related to hazardous materials, transportation safety, homeland security, railroad policing, crisis management, environmental compliance and operations, occupational health management, and the continuity of business operations.
Elliott has more than 40 years of experience in the boardroom, in the nation’s capital, and in state houses and city halls, PHMSA says, describing him as a leading advocate in the development and implementation of computer-based tools to assist emergency response officials, first responders, and homeland security personnel in preparing for and responding to railroad hazmat and security incidents.
Elliott has earned honors from a number of institutions and is a recipient of the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) (Washington, DC) prestigious Holden-Proefrock Award for lifetime achievement in hazardous materials transportation safety.
He has also served on the AAR’s risk management working committee and its security committee, and is a member of the American Society of Industrial Security (Alexandria, Virginia) and the Domestic Security Alliance Council, run by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (Washington, DC) and the Department of Homeland Security (Washington, DC).
Elliott earned a double major in English and forensic studies at Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana), and a master’s degree in science from Columbia Southern University (Orange Beach, Alabama).