President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Cynthia L. Quarterman to become the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at the Department of Transportation. Ms. Quarterman is a partner in the Washington, DC office of the law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where she has a regulatory and litigation practice in the areas of transportation and natural resources. She has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation of hazardous materials by pipeline. Quarterman served as a past Director of the Minerals Management Service at the Department of the Interior, which oversees the leasing, exploration and resource development on the Nation's outer continental shelf, including the transportation of hazardous materials by pipeline. Quarterman earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia University's School of Law and a Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering degree from Northwestern University.