Jeremy Weaver

Leading Change

Unlike many traditional career paths, ATF Industry Operations must embrace constant self-analysis and evaluation of our effectiveness if we want to meet our operational goals Like any thriving market driven industry, the firearms and explosive industries evolve to consumer demands and perceived opportunity for profitability Technology is implemented to improve industry productivity, reduce overhead, and at times to circumvent legal interpretations, in which ATF Industry Operations provides oversight and accountability Additionally, expanding our regulatory objectives to include accountability within the alcohol and/or tobacco industries should be considered when the potential of non-compliant industry practices leads to the funding of criminal enterprises

Department of Defense contractors and subcontractors as manufacturers of munitions and/or destructive devices are members of both the firearms and explosives industry At various stages in the production of such devices, these materials often meet the definition of an explosive and eventually a firearm, which requires contractors to hold either or both a Federal Firearms and Explosives license depending on what they specifically produce Once manufactured, the destructive devices are subject to Government testing in adherence with the applicable Government contract Devices that fail to meet quality control expectations are frequently retained and sold to US domestic defense companies and to US State Department approved entities The licensed industry members will also incorporate production overruns intending to commercially distribute them to those same potential customers The practice is directly related to increasing the profitability of each production As such, the destructive divides are required to be marked for traceability and processed through the ATF NFA Division (for manufacture, transfer, and export) when introduced into these non-Department of Defense markets

In 2015/2016, regulatory investigative findings from the ATF Nashville, Tampa, and Kansas City Field Divisions disclosed there was a failure to mark destructive devices and maintain a record of manufacture or a record of disposition related to the products’ interstate commerce The instances of the violations were documented from a historical standpoint, so the numbers of instances for the failed markings for the Tennessee and Iowa facilities were 5 million and 54 million, respectively The number of instances for the failed disposition record was 71,252 for the Tennessee facility and 54,688 for the Iowa facility The industry member transferred unmarked and unregistered destructive devices without the required NFA Division notification and approval for interstate commerce The Iowa facility misrepresented information to the NFA Division by attempting to register devices while reporting false dates of manufacture, resulting in thousands of the devices being distributed to the US State Department approved entities The Tampa industry member used a Department of Defense contract to obtain explosive materials to manufacture the destructive devices for non-DOD customers The explosive components (high, explosives, fuse, and initiators) used in the manufacture of the devices did not have the required markings under the Gun Control Act or Safe Explosive Act, which would only be allowable under a US Government contract The Tampa industry member distributed 321 destructive devices to a storage facility that did not hold a federal firearms license and did not have a Special Occupational Tax stamp These cases involved subcontractors that crossed into seven different ATF Field Divisions

The operations conducted in violation of the Gun Control Act (GCA), National Firearms Act (NFA), and Safe Explosives Act (SEA) were benefiting the industry financially through reduced operational costs, and expanded products for commercial distributions The operations had a direct negative impact on the traceability and accountability of destructive devices I faced two significant challenges: 1) find a reasonable corrective action with components of the Department of Defense, and 2) evaluate how the operational failures of the industry members and subcontractor industry members had not been identified by ATF in prior compliance investigations nationally To correct the immediate concern of determined contraband destructive devices, I coordinated with multiple agencies within the Department of Defense to ensure products critical to the US Government were readily available Additional destructive devices were coordinated for destruction as agreed to by ATF counsel and representatives for the applicable industry members In reviewing ATF’s historical investigative reports, I determined that overall, the industry Operations Investigators nationally did not understand our jurisdictional authority as related to Department of Defense contractors, nor how such industry members should conduct operations to be compliant to the regulations Industry members further confused the issues by identifying firearms and explosives as "commercial" when being investigated by the Defense Contract Management Agency, but identifying them as “under government contract” when being investigated by ATF In briefing ATF’s Field Operation’s Senior Executive Service leaders, I summarized ATF’s failures regarding efforts to regulate this industry The subject matter is too complex in nature to present in basic training, and none of the advanced training programs for Industry Operations directly addressed the Department of Defense contractors Further, the ATF Industry Operations Manual did not provide the necessary guidance to successfully determine compliance to the GCA, NFA, and the SEA

Leading People

I have been a leader in ATF for my entire twenty-four year career Eleven of those years I have been both a GS 15 and GS 14 supervisor over Supervisory Industry Operations Investigators, Industry Operations Investigators (IOI), and Investigative Analysts covering multiple field divisions Prior to that, I led or advised on Industry Operations teams nationally as a representative of the Northeast Explosive Inspection Team ATF Industry Operations faces the challenge of acquiring, training, and maintaining an IOI workforce to be the backbone of our ATF’s regulatory mission, while adjusting our staffing models to incorporate both losses through attrition, and the development of current and future leaders IOIs are responsible for ensuring the regulatory compliance, and accountability and traceability of firearms associated with approximately one hundred thirty-three thousand Federally licensed firearms entities Additionally, they must qualify every new industry member, and create opportunities for outreach and education to established industry members IOIs are also required to provide regulatory oversight of approximately nine thousand two hundred explosive licensees and permittees Once again, they are qualifying any potential new industry members over a vast array of industries that incorporate explosives as either a primary or complementary business or hobbyist operation As a leader within ATF Industry Operations, I have had to address and resolve the challenge of meeting ATF’s Industry Operation’s goals in various capacities - both from a micro and macro field operations role

In 2015 as a member of ATF Field Management Staff, a component of ATF Headquarters with national perspectives for field operations, I wrote the proposal establishing the Major Inspection Team within ATF Field Operations This select team was created to support national field operations with large and complex assignments, and where serious violations had been historically identified I selected a team of diverse individuals who had experiences and strengths that complemented each other in order to develop and share intelligence information about the industry The team’s mission was not to replace inspection and intelligence activities at the local level, but rather to enhance these capabilities We were creating a national resource that would assist criminal enforcement operations in the identification and inventory of materials, as well as help in the review of related records In creating the program, I managed it and all budgeted resources throughout its pilot

A 2016 Nevada deployment is an example of the team’s success Using resources from nine ATF filed Divisions, I led the operation to conduct a full-scope compliance inspection of a manufacturer of explosives The industry member contracted with the United States Army to demilitarize ammunition at a facility covering approximately 146,000 acres and equipped with over 8 million square feet of concrete-reinforced munitions and equipment storage units Overall, approximately 14,000 tons of explosive ordnance were being demilitarized per year I created an operations plan to outline the coordinated roles of all associated team members My goal was not to just define each responsibility, but to enhance communication within the team and foster development among the various subject matter experts We effectively completed the investigation within five days, identifying and documenting violations of the safe explosives act with corrective actions to ensure the safe storage of explosive materials After concluding the investigation, I briefed the ATF Assistant Director of Field Operations about the results, and the program was permanently adopted nationwide as a regulatory investigative team This team has become a tool to grow and develop a collaborative, inclusive team mentality among promising IOIs from field divisions throughout ATF Many team members have moved into permanent field office and program leadership positions throughout ATF Industry Operations

As the Director, Industry Operations for the ATF Philadelphia field division in 2023, I was responsible for leading four Industry Operations field offices Each office has allocated a full-time equivalent GS 14 Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator, an investigative analyst, and ten IOIs However, while there are forty allocated investigator positions division-wide, we in fact, have only twenty-nine in place, including trainees As the new Director, Industry Operations, I inherited three offices without an incumbent Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator I explored the circumstances related to the vacancies and evaluated the currently assigned IOIs to determine how best to facilitate a team environment among the staff, meet the operational goals of each office, and grow the next generation of leaders

For example, one supervisor was temporarily reassigned from his office subject to the completion of an equal employment opportunity investigation and possible inappropriate behavior (also pending review) I visited this office in person to meet with the personnel and use it as an opportunity to facilitate open communication We discussed the needs of the office and those of each IOI to meet the specific goals of the investigations assigned to them I also described the needs of the field division as a whole so that they would understand what was driving the solution and what would be asked of them as part of it The meeting allowed me to identify the senior team leaders that were supporting the office during this leadership transition With a goal of cooperation, each had volunteered to act as the Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator Considering training requirements, communication skillsets, and ongoing mission critical investigative activities, I selected an actor The assigned IOIs and the Investigative Analyst shared their concerns, and those needs were considered and addressed The overall office culture turned to enthusiastic support for those who stood up in turn to support them Productivity for this office has since thrived

Another office, the majority of whom were still in on-the-job training status, needed an acting Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator As in the prior example, I pursued an office meeting there as well to enhance communication and create a sense of inclusiveness among the staff Once more, I shared the goals of the division and the office specifically Then I listened to the needs of the IOIs Through this exercise, I saw a clear emerging leader within the office who had the support of her peers In a breakout with her, the IOI shared her vision to meet the mission and the lessons learned from her experiences I selected her to be the acting Supervisor Industry Operations Investigator for this office which was met with enthusiasm from her colleagues

Lastly, for the third office I had vetted and selected a permanent Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator Meeting with this offices’ personnel, I discussed the overall mission and the needs of the field division beyond just the office With a supervisor in place and goals well in line with expectations, I looked to the office to meet the challenges of the division as a whole I found the volunteers willing to take temporary duty outside of their typical area of responsibility in order to contribute as a team to meet the division’s overall operational goals

I have had similar situations in which I had to adjust workforce, area of responsibilities, and operational responsibilities for various challenges within both the NY and Newark Field Divisions

In both the described national program and divisional team building experiences, I have found diversity, communication, and inclusion is what achieves ATF’s mission and fosters enthusiasm for being a part of something greater than the individual They become a team in pursuit of a common goal Through this approach, we have built a more knowledgeable Industry Operations Investigative workforce and built our next generation of leaders - mentors who have earned respect and show respect to those for whom they are responsible In this way, we are fulfilling ATF’s mission that ensures the safety of generations yet to come

Results Driven

ATF Industry Operations is responsible for the regulatory oversight of the firearms, explosive, tobacco, and alcohol industries Industry Operations Investigators are responsible for verification of regulatory compliance and for documentation of non-compliance for all of these industries Since ATF’s move from the department of Treasury to the Department of Justice, all training associated with regulatory oversight of tobacco ceased in both the basic and advanced training programs available for ATF Industry Operations Investigators

Trafficking in tobacco products is a global phenomenon that causes governments to lose 40 to 50 billion dollars in tax revenue annually In the United States trafficking in tobacco products is driven by the significant disparity in the tobacco excise tax rates are higher (eg, from Pennsylvania to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts) The illegal profits realized from the various tobacco trafficking schemes are known to support organized crime and terrorist organizations ATF is the only Federal agency that has the authority to conduct inspections and criminal investigations of tobacco entities under the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act (CCTA) and the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT Act) In 2019, ATF received Congressional attention when Senator Grassley’s office made contact with the agency to inquire about ATF’s investigative activity related to tobacco His office was met with assurance that ATF would be expanding on our focus

ATF Field Operations wanted a tobacco pilot program to evaluate the use of civil enforcement tools, such as compliance investigations, to enforce or verify compliance investigations, to enforce or verify compliance and resolve potentially encountered violations of the PACT Act and the CCTA In 2019, I created the tobacco pilot program focusing on inspections of five cases in the greater Philadelphia area, generally situated in proximity to the I-95 corridor With information derived from a terminated criminal case that originated in the ATF Boston field division, I prioritized an inspection of the subject tobacco wholesaler That operation had previously been under investigation for trafficking tobacco into Massachusetts I scheduled a meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Investigators, which is the state jurisdictional authority with oversight of tobacco distributors, that was held in advance of any field activity State investigators provided valuable profiles for risk assessments of other wholesale operations in PA and vested persons of interest I facilitated an agreement to coordinate state inspections with ATF Industry Operations After discussing the likes of several significant tobacco wholesale businesses suspected of trafficking smokeless tobacco products, three additional inspection targets were identified A fifth case to be incorporated in the pilot was later identified during the course of these investigations

Prior to initiating the investigative activity for this pilot, I had to address that none of the Philadelphia Industry Operations Investigators had any formal training related to the tobacco industry This included basic or advanced training The participating Industry Operations Investigators attend in-person training in the Philadelphia Division Legal training was provided by Associate Chief Counsel and Division Counsel Additionally, I sought and coordinated support for ATF’s Financial Investigative Services Division to provide analysis of the associated data/records which were eventually obtained during the course of the investigations

As a result of my leading the field operations conducted under this pilot program, I created an outline for standard operating procedures to serve as the guideline for all future ATF tobacco regulatory oversight Investigations into the industry members targeted as subjects for the pilot program were conducted in conjunction with Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Investigators Additionally, each investigation initiated by Philadelphia Industry Operations Investigators was conducted in a coordinated effort I would determine courses of action and workable solutions whenever Industry Operations Investigators encountered problems with this relatively unfamiliar industry Some issues that required program adjustments were related to investigative scope, examination of digital data, case management system adjustments, and the need for additional technical resources such as dedicated secure laptops to address potential viral risks to the ATF network, and external large capacity hard drives To address these issues, I authorized and coordinated scope expansions, obtained authorization for technical resources, and worked with program management in ATF’s Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information to modify case documentation I used those solutions to modify the standard operating procedures, capturing the lessons learned through the pilot program before expanding it nationally The investigative activities for the tobacco pilot began in January 2020 All five investigations uncovered tobacco trafficking and violations of the PACT Act and CCTA Combined, we disclosed over thirty-nine million dollars subject to potential forfeiture as illegal proceeds under the CCTA Potential civil fines under the PACT Act for the five investigations combined totaled over three hundred and fifty-eight million dollars Civil settlements and fines were negotiated through ATF Associate Chief Counsel in resolutions to these findings Once all cases had the violations resolved with ATF, we referred to state tax authorities the specific trafficking activity associated with their state

In March of 2021, I provided a briefing on the tobacco pilot program to the ATF Assistant Director Field Operations, all ATF Field Operation Deputy Assistant Directors, Associate Chief Counsel East, and the ATF Special Agent in Charge for Philadelphia The program was accepted for expansion for select national assignments In coordination with team members from Industry Operations, ATF Office of Public and Government Affairs, ATF Financial Investigative Services Division, and the office of Chief Counsel, I oversaw and participated in the creation and conduct of a training course on tobacco investigations in ATF Headquarters for Industry Operations Investigators from multiple field divisions

As the Pilot Program closed and the national tobacco program was expanded, I briefed the ATF Director’s Chief of Staff on case findings and status to enable the ATF Director to brief Senator Grassley’s office on the operations conducted within this program in support of appropriated funds Tobacco investigations, as part of the new national program, have spread into the Philadelphia, New York, Louisville, and Detroit field divisions - all of which disclosed tobacco trafficking and violations of the PACT Act and CCTA Settlements are ongoing but already in excess of three million dollars Additionally, some of the businesses have ceased to operate as part of the agreements, and all remaining businesses have been provided future compliance expectations Finally, we have established ATF as an important resource to our state partners by providing trafficking data pertinent to their states

Business Acumen

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Field Operations through Industry Operations is responsible for managing the investigative arm of ATF’s regulatory mission There are twenty-five field divisions with four hundred and seventy-one field or satellite offices with strategically placed Industry Operations resources for regulatory investigative operations These ATF Industry Operations resources responsible for the oversight of currently one hundred thirty-three thousand, seven hundred and fifty-four Federally licensed firearms entities, and nine thousand two hundred and thirty-five explosive licensees and permitees Additionally, Industry Operations is congressionally mandated to qualify any potential new industry members prior to Federal licensing The current ATF Industry Operations Investigative population is eight hundred full-time equivalent employees (FTE) with approximately six hundred and seventy-five field industry Operations Investigators ATF Industry Operations must evaluate and allocate the necessary resources for operations at the office, divisional and national levels to ensure that the mission is achieved and that congressional mandates are reflected in appropriated funding A viable assessment will include consideration of FTE (properly allocated to meet the location and volume of licensed industry operations) as well as expanded Information Technology tools for the integrity of oversight when industry continues to exploit them in their business operations

Throughout my career in ATF Industry Operations, I have been tasked with oversight and allocation of resources associated at the office, divisional and national levels As an Industry Operations Supervisory Investigator, I have done so at a field office level; as Director, Industry Operations, at multiple field divisions, I have done so at a Divisional level And as a member of HQ field Management Staff, I have done so at the national level Uniquely, while spearheading several pilot programs, I had to identify the appropriate resources to be allocated for new operations progressing from pilot programs through their adoption as national ATF programs

As a Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator, I coordinated assessments for planning regulatory operations including analysis of social, economic, and political trends within my geographical area I projected fiscal operational goals and priorities based on the best resource management practices This included prioritization of assignments, allocation of staffing, allocation of property, and the planning of industry operations activity Prior to the stand-up of the ATF Newark Field Division, I was tasked to do an analysis of industry populations in the state of New Jersey and the associated regulatory workload to meet the operational goals and mission of ATF Industry Operations I provided operational projections and allocation of full-time equivalent Industry Operation position needs, including transfers of FTE from both the Philadelphia and New York field divisions Strategic office locations were projected based on current lease agreements for duty stations/field offices Additionally, investigative resources and property needs were broken down and recommended for transfer from the Philadelphia and New York field divisions, to include information technology property transfers to equip the projected staffing model This model was used as the infrastructure for the new ATF Newark Field Division’s regulatory operations

While in this Supervisory capacity, I also piloted a new tobacco regulatory program to assess the use of civil enforcement tools, such as compliance investigations, as a means to enforce or verify compliance and resolve potential violations of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act and The Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act (CCTA) During the course of the pilot program, I determined the investigative needs to meet each individual compliance investigation and projected the investigative resources to be allocated for a national expansion This included identifying the allocation of FTE required and the necessary coordinated resources from ATF Financial Investigative Services Division I also acquired information technology property required to pull digital documentation and video documentation/evidence Additionally, the investigation in which I provided oversight, collected millions in civil settlements of the CCTA and thousands in PACT Act fines which were required to be documented and allocated to the proper ATF and US Department of Justice accounts

As a Director, Industry Operations for the New York, Newark, Los Angeles and Philadelphia field divisions, I directed a staff of industry Operations Investigators, both supervisory and non-supervisory, and support personnel for each division I reassigned personnel into acting supervisory capacities for offices in New York, New Jersey, southern California and Pennsylvania, selected permanent incumbent Supervisory Industry Operations Investigators for multiple field offices, and made ratings/recommendations for the hiring of new Industry Operations Investigators based on the investigative resource needs of seven different field offices Upon my analysis of productivity and staffing needs of each field office in meeting the established operational goals, I temporarily reassigned Industry Operations Investigators to support the overall mission of the agency and operational needs of each field division overall I determined the available funds for the temporary details previously mentioned, as well as travel for compliance investigations I budgeted overtime for mandatory off-core hour operations in excess of forty hours, as well as unpredictable public safety investigative activity encountered in NY, NJ, CA and PA, such as firearm thefts and explosive losses

While assigned to HQ Field Management Staff, I created and piloted an operation that led to a permanent program - the Major Inspection Team (MIT) to support Industry Operation’s investigations nationally The MIT was designed to provide support for large scale investigations where resources in specific field divisions were unavailable In addition to creating a tool for ATF to address staffing limitations, I also managed the fiscal budgeted activities throughout the pilot While being vetted for effectiveness, ATF Field Operations was directly funding MIT deployments I was tasked to create a budget for each deployment that encompassed fiscal, human, and information technology resources needed I created a cost benefit comparison and obtained allocated funds from Field Operations through the Assistant Director in pursuit of each operation’s objectives Additionally, I drew personnel resources from multiple field divisions, and allocated them based on the MIT’s investigative needs as well as the operational demands of the field offices - all in support of ATF’s national goals

Throughout my career in ATF Field Operations, I have met the challenges of achieving the mission and goals of the offices and divisions under my supervision I’ve acquired new information technology resources for unexpected investigations of industries for which ATF had not planned nor forecasted I’ve Department of Justice through civil settlements and fines I have consistently evaluated the needs of equitable protection to the public regardless of staffing and budget challenges that at times are unavoidable My experience and accomplishments show that I have made effective and efficient use of the resources available at the office, divisional, and national levels to ensure the overall accomplishment of the ATF mission through Field Operations

Building Coalitions

ATF Industry Operations is tasked through ATF Field Operations with meeting the objectives in support of accountability, traceability, education, and safety To meet the mission through these objectives, ATF Industry Operations has a critical task of developing coalitions internally as well as with other federal, state, and local jurisdictional authorities

I have developed and nurtured coalitions, some equal and some dominant, throughout my career in ATF Industry Operations Bringing people together with a common goal, then creating solutions to challenges encountered along the way, ensures that ATF’s mission will be achieved As part of the ATF Field Management Staff in ATF Headquarters, I developed a coalition both within ATF and among other federal authorities to support corrective actions in the face of a national trend of regulatory violations, and to support future national accountability of specific firearms and explosives industry members As a Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator and as a Director, Industry Operations in multiple field divisions, I have partnered with other federal, state, and local jurisdictions to address industry’s accountability in meeting their regulatory obligations I have also built these partnerships to preemptively enhance communication among responding authorities in matters of public safety and awareness Lastly, I have built dominant coalitions within the industries themselves where together we pursue the goal of responsible industry operations

While assigned to ATF Headquarters, Field Management Staff, I coordinated investigations in seven Field Divisions related to the Department of Defense Contractors to coordinate and simultaneously initiate investigations The violations that were anticipated would be connected to the operations associated from each industry member Disclosed contraband would be connected from the subcontractors of the same Department of Defense Contracts I collected and assembled all of the findings of this major investigation and led a coalition of staff from the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Security Services, and the Army Criminal Investigative Division, to discuss jurisdictional authorities and determine viable corrective actions Then I briefed ATF executive leadership (ATF Assistant Director Field Operations, the Chief of Field Management Staff, the NFA Division Chief, and the Chief of the Firearms and Explosives Industry Division) about the results The operation concluded with multiple corrective action plans being put in place to ensure traceability and accountability of destructive divides and explosive materials, and disposal of contraband destructive devices Additionally, this operation was used as one of the case studies describing inadequate knowledge and training of field investigators which led to new policy and training to ensure industry accountability I represented ATF Field Operations in a leadership role on an ATF team involving the Chief Counsel’s office and Enforcement Program Services to address the oversight of ATF licensed Department of Defense contractors Sharing our specialized knowledge of industry practices, legal authorities, policy, implementation of regulatory oversight, we created a process to ensure future accountability of the defense contract licensed industry

While still assigned to HQ Field Management Staff, I created and led the piloting of a Major Inspection Team (MIT) I was tasked with managing MIT throughout the pilot program Industry Operation Investigators from around the country submitted summaries of experiences, accomplishments, and skill sets through their chain of commands for my review and consideration for participation on this team I selected a diverse team of Investigative staff that had demonstrated expertise in a wide variety of industries and exhibited specific knowledge of the unique trends associated with operations within specific geographical areas When MIT deployments were approved upon my recommendations, I selected members for activation based on my assessment of the skills sets and experience needed to support the investigation As an example, in June 2016, I deployed a team to Nevada, in support of the ATF San Francisco Field Division, to conduct a large-scale investigation of a Department of Defense contractor with millions of pounds of explosive materials I created a coalition that included members with extensive Department of Defense experience, members familiar with the geographical location of the investigation, and members with experience of the explosives that were encountered I created and led a team of varying skillsets to successfully meet the operational goals The MIT has since expanded and been adopted as a permanent resource for ATF Industry Operations

As a Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator, I created an Industry Operations pilot program for regulatory oversight of the tobacco industry I used ATF’s authority to conduct compliance investigations of the tobacco industry I used ATF’s authority to conduct compliant investigations of tobacco entities under the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act (CCTA) and the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT Act) Based on ATF Industry Operations’ lack of experience with the tobacco industry, there was no defined oversight program to operate, and no familiarity with the specific industry members within the targeted geographical area of the pilot So, I partnered with the Pennsylvania State Department of Revenue to gain critical intelligence related to potential investigative subjects, becoming familiar with the types of documents that could be encountered while identifying the vast array of potential illicit activities to explore The State’s mission unquestionably benefited from its collaboration with ATF legal authority over the industry The coalition that I structured and led between Pennsylvania State Department of Revenue Investigators and Industry Operations Investigators has already resulted in millions of dollars in civil settlements and fines

As Director, Industry Operations and as a Supervisory Industry Operations Investigator, I have found it important to cultivate and maintain a working relationship with other jurisdictional authorities when it relates to the regulated industries so that together we can ensure an effective and efficient response to matters of public safety In Pennsylvania, I am a member of the Region 3 Chemical Safety Workgroup As the ATF representative on this workgroup, I coordinated with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), and numerous first responders We meet yearly to share information about our responsibilities related to chemicals and explosives A clear benefit of this relationship occurred when explosives were accidentally detonated at a facility in Pennsylvania My first notification of the incident came through channels of this workgroup I responded with ATF Criminal Enforcement and Industry Operations staff and coordinated with OSHA, PSP, and PA DEP We were already familiar with each other and the roles we would play in investigating the circumstances of the accidental detonation Similarly, as Director, Industry Operations for Los Angeles, I established relationships with California fire authorities and represented ATF at events creating a partnership to address California wildfires and the risks they posed to the explosive industry, as well as the risk the explosive industry posed to expanding wildfires

Lastly, through regular seminars, I have developed coalitions with voluntarily compliant industry members By creating these partnerships, I have gained additional avenues of intelligence because diligent members will raise concerns about non-compliant industry members for ATF to address In conclusion, I have created, led, and represented ATF in coalitions to enhance both Industry Operations’ and Criminal Enforcements’ ability to meet their operational objectives To that end, I have fostered partnerships within Federal, State, and local governments, and even built bridges within the industry itself