(The Richmond Times-Dispatch posted the following article on its website on August 17.)
RICHMOND, Va. — Former VDOT Commissioner Charles D. “Chip” Nottingham has been appointed chairman of the federal Surface Transportation Board.
The board is an economic regulatory agency. With a staff of about 140 employees, mostly lawyers and economists, it is charged with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers.
“I am deeply honored to have been nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as chairman of the Surface Transportation Board,” Nottingham said in a statement yesterday.
“Our nation’s economic health and quality of life depend on our ability to improve our transportation infrastructure,” he said. “I look forward to working at the Surface Transportation Board and to addressing these infrastructure and other critical issues.”
Before his appointment to the board, Nottingham, 40, was the Federal Highway Administration’s associate administrator for policy and governmental affairs.
The Fredericksburg resident headed the Virginia Department of Transportation from 1999 to 2002 under Gov. Jim Gilmore. He also had served as assistant secretary of transportation in the Gilmore administration.
From 1995 to 1998, Nottingham worked as counsel and chief of staff for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, R-11th, and chief of staff for Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, R-6th.
Before joining the Federal Highway Administration in 2002, Nottingham was counsel to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Government Reform.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and his law degree from George Mason University.