On June 3, 2019, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announced DOT’s 2019 Pipeline Safety Legislative Proposal. According to Secretary Chao, the proposed legislation prioritizes safety, promotes innovation, and encourages reliable energy infrastructure in the United States. The proposed legislation would reauthorize pipeline safety programs at the Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for fiscal years 2020-2023. Among its provisions are measures that would modernize PHMSA’s incident and construction data collection, establish a voluntary safety information sharing program, encourage replacement for aged local pipeline systems, and clarify certain regulatory measures to prevent incidents from occurring on our nation’s pipeline system.
“This proposal renews our commitment to pipeline safety by encouraging innovation and greater stakeholder collaboration, as well as by clarifying certain pipeline replacement practices for local distribution systems to help prevent future incidents,” said PHMSA Administrator Skip Elliott.
The legislation also includes provisions that would streamline and enhance PHMSA’s support for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, enabling the United States to export natural gas globally. Moreover, the proposal embraces innovation by promoting research and development initiatives aimed at deploying new technologies to enhance pipeline safety and reliability.
The proposed legislation can be found at this link.