DOT’s Federal Pipeline Safety Program: Background and Key Issues for Congress

Summary

Altogether, the U.S. energy pipeline network is composed of over 2.9 million miles of pipeline transporting natural gas, oil, and other hazardous liquids. While an efficient and comparatively safe means of transport, many pipelines carry materials with the potential to cause public injury, costly destruction, and environmental damage. The nation’s pipeline networks are also widespread and vulnerable to accidents. Recent pipeline accidents in Marshall, MI, San Bruno, CA, New York City, and Santa Barbara, CA, have heightened congressional concern about pipeline risks and drawn criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board. The Department of Energy’s first Quadrennial Energy Review also highlighted pipeline safety as a growing concern for the nation’s energy infrastructure. Both government and industry have taken numerous steps to improve pipeline safety over the last 10 years. Nonetheless, the spate of recent pipeline incidents suggests there continues to be opportunity for improvement.

The federal program for pipeline safety resides primarily with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) within the Department of Transportation (DOT), although its inspection and enforcement activities rely heavily upon partnerships with state pipeline safety agencies. PHMSA’s appropriations are authorized through FY2015 under the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-90). The act contained a broad range of provisions addressing pipeline safety. Among the most significant were provisions to increase the number of federal pipeline safety inspectors, require automatic shutoff valves for transmission pipelines, mandate verification of maximum allowable operating pressure for gas transmission pipelines, and increase civil penalties for pipeline safety violations. In total, the act imposed 42 mandates on PHMSA regarding studies, rules, maps, and other elements of the federal pipeline safety program. While PHMSA has fulfilled many of these mandates, 16 remain incomplete, including several key mandates with potentially large impacts nationwide. In addition to these mandates, policymakers have expressed concerns about the adequacy of PHMSA’s resources, the effectiveness of PHMSA’s enforcement, its oversight of state pipeline safety programs, the potential regulation of currently unregulated gathering lines, and other regulatory issues.

Whether the ongoing efforts by industry, combined with additional oversight by federal agencies, will further enhance the safety of U.S. pipelines remains to be seen. As Congress continues its oversight of the federal pipeline safety program, it may assess how the various elements of U.S. pipeline safety fit together in the nation’s overall strategy to protect the public and the environment. Pipeline safety necessarily involves many groups: federal agencies, oil and gas pipeline associations, large and small pipeline operators, and local communities. Reviewing how these groups work together to achieve common goals could be an overarching concern for Congress.