The top of the charts' number one issue of immediate consequence in Washington is that strange word – sequestration, according to Aaron Trippler, government affairs director of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).

Speculation is mounting that outgoing EPA chief Lisa Jackson will be replaced by Gina McCarthy, the EPA’s assistant administrator for air and radiation for the past four years.

OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab ended some speculation late last month when he announced that he and agency head Dr. David Michaels will remain at their posts.

Last week Wyoming’s petroleum industry helped kill draft legislation that would give greater power to landowners to challenge Wyoming’s trade secret exemption in the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

This morning, Secretary Ray LaHood announced to the employees of the U.S. Department of Transportation that after serving for four years in President Obama’s Cabinet, he would not be staying on for the second term. The Secretary sent the following email to DOT employees across the country, informing them of his plans:

A public service career that started “almost as a lark” ends – at least for now – with the departure of Hilda S. Solis as U.S. Secretary of Labor. In her farewell on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) blog, Solis listed the accomplishments of the department under her tenure: