Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a field hearing in Charleston, West Virginia, to discuss pipeline safety issues in the wake of the December 2012 gas pipeline incident in Sissonville, West Virginia. The Committee heard testimony from Ms. Sue Bonham, a resident of Sissonville; Ms. Deborah Hersman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (the independent federal agency investigating the Sissonville incident); Ms. Cynthia Quarterman, Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency (the federal agency responsible for ensuring the safety of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines); Ms. Sue Fleming, Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (an independent agency that performs audits, investigations, and studies for the U.S. Congress); Mr. Jimmy Staton, a senior executive for NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage; and Rick Kessler, President of the Board of the Pipeline Safety Trust (a nonprofit group dedicated to pipeline safety). The witness’ written testimony and an archived webcast of the field hearing can be found on the Committee’s website.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a press release today indicating that the agency posted record enforcement numbers in 2012. According to the press release, PHMSA issued 116 final orders for the year, the second highest total in its history, and proposed a record $8.7M in fines for pipeline safety violations. The press release also notes that PHMSA has proposed over $32M in civil penalties and issued 509 enforcement orders since 2008. The recent reauthorization of the federal pipeline safety laws doubled the maximum administrative civil penalties that can be assessed for violations to $200K per day, per violation, not to exceed $2M for any related series of violations.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report today concluding that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) needs to collect better data and provide additional guidance to improve the ability of pipeline operators to respond to incidents. GAO prepared its report to comply with a mandate in the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, the most recent reauthorization of the federal pipeline safety laws. A separate provision in that law requires PHMSA to determine if new safety standards should be established for the use of automatic and remotely controlled shutoff valves on transmission lines. The advantages and disadvantages of using automated valves is one of the issues examined in the GAO report.
According to the revised reporting instructions available on its website, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has agreed to extend the deadline for gas transmission line operators to submit their 2012 annual reports from March 15, 2013 to June 15, 2013. This change is significant because PHMSA is collecting data in these reports on the pipeline segments in densely populated and other high consequence areas which lack sufficient records to confirm their established maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP). This effort is mandated by the MAOP verification requirements in the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, the most recent reauthorization of the nation’s pipeline safety laws.
Yesterday, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released an update on its progress in implementing the requirements of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act, the most recent reauthorization of the federal pipeline safety laws. President Obama signed that legislation one year ago, and PHMSA has since taken a number of actions to comply with its provisions, including initiating reforms to its administrative enforcement process, completing several congressionally-mandated studies, and issuing advisory bulletins on safety-related issues.
As explained in the December edition of the PIOGA Press, President Obama’s reelection has set the stage for a series of regulatory actions by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The most significant actions involve two rulemaking proceedings that could substantially overhaul the current federal safety standards for natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the federal agency responsible for ensuring the safety of our nation’s gas pipelines, has given transmission line operators until March 15, 2013, to determine whether they have sufficient records to confirm the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) for segments located in densely populated and other high consequence areas. PHMSA imposed that deadline to comply with a mandate in the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, Pub. L. No. 112-90, the most recent reauthorization of the federal pipeline safety laws. More information on PHMSA’s MAOP verification requirements is available in the latest edition of the PBA Environmental & Energy Law Section Newsletter.