US Department of Energy

The Department of Energy is organized along four principal business lines: National Security, Energy Resources, Science & Technology, & Environmental Quality. The National Defense Programs of the Department have four overriding priorities, they include: insuring the integrity and safety of the country's nuclear weapons; promoting international nuclear safety; advancing nuclear non-proliferation;, and, continuing to provided safe, efficient, and effective nuclear power plants for the United States Navy. The priorities of the Department's energy program are to: increase domestic energy production; revolutionize our approach energy conservation and efficiency; and, promote the development of renewable and alternative energy sources. The priorities of the Department's environmental program are to: ensure that safety legacies of the cold war are addressed and resolved and done so in a manner that does not impede future national security missions; and, to permanently and safely disposing of the nation's radioactive wastes. The top priority of the Department's science program is the sponsorship of cutting-edge science & technology research and development that revolutionizes how we find, produce, and deliver energy.

US Environmental Protection Agency

EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment — air, water, and land — upon which life depends. For 30 years, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people. 18,000 people in Headquarters program offices, 10 regional offices, and 17 labs across the country, EPA employs a highly educated, technically trained staff, more than half of whom are engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists. A large number of employees are legal, public affairs, financial, and computer specialists. EPA is led by the Administrator who is appointed by the President of the United States.

US Department of Transportation

Leadership of the DOT is provided by the Secretary of Transportation, who is the principal adviser to the President in all matters relating to federal transportation programs. The Secretary is assisted by the Deputy Secretary in this role. The Office of the Secretary (OST) oversees the formulation of national transportation policy and promotes intermodal transportation. Other responsibilities range from negotiation and implementation of international transportation agreements, assuring the fitness of US airlines, enforcing airline consumer protection regulations, issuance of regulations to prevent alcohol and illegal drug misuse in transportation systems and preparing transportation legislation.

Energy Information Administration

The Energy Information Administration (EIA), created by Congress in 1977, is a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. They provide policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

National Transportation Safety Board

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in the other modes of transportation -- railroad, highway, marine and pipeline -- and issuing safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. The Safety Board determines the probable cause of: all U.S. civil aviation accidents and certain public-use aircraft accidents; selected highway accidents; railroad accidents involving passenger trains or any train accident that results in at least one fatality or major property damage; major marine accidents and any marine accident involving a public and a nonpublic vessel; pipeline accidents involving a fatality or substantial property damage; releases of hazardous materials in all forms of transportation; and selected transportation accidents that involve problems of a recurring nature. The NTSB has issued more than 11,600 recommendations in all transportation modes to more than 2,200 recipients. Since 1990, the NTSB has highlighted some issues on a Most Wanted list of safety improvements. Although it has no regulatory or enforcement powers, its reputation for impartiality and thoroughness has enabled the NTSB to achieve such success in shaping transportation safety improvements that more than 80 percent of its recommendations have been adopted by those in a position to effect change.

Office of Pipeline Safety

The Office of Pipeline Safety's mission is to ensure the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation's pipeline transportation system. OPS safety jurisdiction over pipelines covers more than 3,000 gathering, transmission, and distribution operators as well as some 52,000 master meter and liquefied natural gas (LNG) operators who own and/or operate approximately 1.6 million miles of gas pipelines, in addition to over 200 operators and an estimated 155,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines. OPS currently has approximately 70 employees: half work at Headquarters in Washington, DC, and the other half work in the five OPS regional offices located in Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Kansas City, MO; Houston, TX; and Lakewood, CO. These employees work within the following programs to carry out the mandated regulatory and enforcement responsibilities of the Office of Pipeline Safety.

ASME Government Relations

ASME International's government relations program is directed at affecting the outcome of issues identified by members as important to the practice of mechanical engineering in the public interest. Under the direction of the Board on Government Relations, the program is conducted through a framework of activities aimed at identifying issues and strategies; informing the ASME membership; involving society members through a variety of programs for individuals and groups; preparing and presenting position statements, testimony, and technical briefs; and holding meetings with policymakers. Visit http://www.asme.org/gric/.

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