On September 11 and 12, in Baltimore, Md., the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will hold their Research & Development Forum. The free forum is a two-day event held periodically to generate a national research agenda that fosters solutions for the various challenges facing the pipeline industry. The forum allows public, government and industry pipeline stakeholders to develop a consensus on the areas of focus for future research. It also reduces duplication of programs, factors ongoing research efforts, leverages resources and broadens synergies. The national research agenda coming out of these events is aligned with the needs of the pipeline safety mission, makes use of the best available knowledge and expertise, and considers stakeholder perspectives. Specifically the forum:On September 11-12, in Baltimore, Md., the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will hold their Research & Development Forum. The free forum is a two-day event held periodically to generate a national research agenda that fosters solutions for the various challenges facing the pipeline industry. The forum allows public, government and industry pipeline stakeholders to develop a consensus on the areas of focus for future research. It also reduces duplication of programs, factors ongoing research efforts, leverages resources and broadens synergies. The national research agenda coming out of these events is aligned with the needs of the pipeline safety mission, makes use of the best available knowledge and expertise, and considers stakeholder perspectives.
Specifically the forum:
1. Identifies key pipeline technical challenges facing industry and government;
2. Disseminates information on current research efforts; and
3. Identifies new research that can help to meet known challenges.
APGA and the APGA Research Foundation are working closely with PHMSA on the event steering committee to ensure the results from forum adequately account for the distribution pipeline industry. We encourage APGA members that are involved in the RF to attend to aid in guaranteeing that the voice of public gas systems is represented. You can register at
https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/meetings/MtgHome.mtg?mtg=136&nocache=9447.
For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
ekurilla@apga.org.