The time has come once again for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to be reauthorized. Congress has been ramping up activity on this front, as a bill must be passed by September 30 to avoid a lapse in funding. However, if the legislation is not completed by the deadline, PHMSA and their state partners will continue operating with existing appropriations. As with most other PHMSA reauthorizations, APGA members should also expect additional policy issues addressed through mandates in 2019.
Congress last reauthorized PHMSA in the 2016 PIPES Act for three years. Mandates within the 2016 PIPES Act required PHMSA to promulgate regulations for underground storage of natural gas, as well as requested studies on voluntary information sharing systems, lost and unaccounted for gas (LUAF), and improvements to damage prevention technology. The 2016 PIPES Act followed the 2011 Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011. The 2011 act included several mandates that are being addressed in the Safety of Gas Transmission & Gathering Lines rulemaking, including: verification of transmission line maximum allowable operating pressure, expansion of transmission integrity management, and verification of transmission pipeline material records.
Over the past few weeks, PHMSA reauthorization talks have begun to build steam. Already, committees in both the House and Senate have held hearings on PHMSA. APGA expects other committees with jurisdiction to follow suit soon. In early April, the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee’s Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials kicked off reauthorization by bringing PHMSA, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and industry and safety advocates in to testify. Much of the hearing focused on the lack of progress on outstanding mandates and how to improve the process in which PHMSA goes through rulemakings. Discussion also focused on new mandates needed following the Merrimack Valley tragedy.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Technology Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety held its own hearing in early April. Similarly, PHMSA, the NTSB, and industry spoke on various topics surrounding pipeline safety. Similar to the House T&I hearing, the Senate hearing focused on outstanding congressional mandates from the 2011 and 2016 PIPES Acts and actions following Merrimack Valley.
While the Senate hearing was relatively less contentious than the House one, it did provide Senator Markey (D-Mass.) an opportunity to question witnesses on elements of his proposed Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act, named after the 18-year-old who perished in the Merrimack Valley incident. Sen. Markey’s bill proposes to require PHMSA to regulate several facets of distribution systems, such as mandating Pipeline Safety Management Systems and requiring Professional Engineering approvals on designs and operating procedures. It also proposes to require operators to submit a number of documents to the Secretary of Transportation and state authorities, such as Distribution Integrity Management Plans, Operations & Maintenance procedures, distribution pipeline material records, and other documents and records.
APGA continues to meet with congressional offices and stakeholders involved in formulating the final PHMSA reauthorization bill. The next step is likely a hearing in the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee sometime in early May.
For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla or Doug MacGillivray of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
ekurilla@apga.org or
dmacgillivray@apga.org.