NEFI Names Regulatory Counsel: Richard P. Schweitzer
Richard P. Schweitzer is the new regulatory counsel to the New England Fuel Institute.
Working out of Washington, D.C., Schweitzer will represent NEFI and its members before federal agencies on regulatory matters related to commercial vehicles, training and licensing of CDL drivers, hours-of-service requirements, workplace safety, the safe transportation and storage of Hazardous Materials, and other matters.
Photo courtesy of NEFI
Schweitzer will provide frequent updates on these issues in NEFI publications, including weekly newsletter NEON and monthly magazine Oil & Energy. He will also provide NEFI members with timely compliance bulletins, educational webinars, and on-call assistance.
“We are pleased to welcome Rick to the NEFI family,” said President and CEO Sean Cota. “He has a depth of experience and connections in Washington that are essential in dealing with one of the greatest challenges for our members—the costs and burdens associated with complex regulations and the impact it has on their businesses.”
For more than three decades, Schweitzer has represented transportation firms and their trade associations on a variety of tax, commercial and regulatory issues in federal and state court, and before Congress, the Department of Transportation, the Internal Revenue Service, and various state taxing and regulatory agencies.
He has served on boards and advisory committees for several agencies, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This includes the Board of Directors of the Unified Carrier Registration Plan, which was tasked by Congress to develop state motor carrier regulatory fees to replace the Single State Registration System; and the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Regulatory Review Panel, established under the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 to review state safety regulations for consistency with federal safety rules. He has also served as Chairman of the Motor Carrier & Surface Transportation Committee of the Federal Bar Association.
Schweitzer is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and is a member (inactive) of the Kentucky Bar Association. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and District of Columbia Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Schweitzer is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Kentucky (B.A. 1977; J.D. 1981).
Schweitzer will be available to NEFI members for help with compliance matters. He can be reached at 703-946-2548 and emailed at regulations@nefi.com.