Pipeline Safety: Background, Practices and Regulatory Changes

The U.S. energy pipeline network includes approximately 3.3 million miles of onshore pipeline transporting natural gas, crude oil, and other hazardous liquids. Over the past decade, major safety incidents in California, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and other states have drawn criticism from stakeholders and have raised concerns in Congress about pipeline safety regulation. The 2021 ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline has also drawn attention to federal pipeline security activities, including agency roles and the linkage between pipeline safety and security. Chapter 1 examines the progress of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in implementing the Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2020 (P.L. 116–260, PIPES Act of 2020) and examining future needs in pipeline safety. Chapter 2 addresses PHMSA’s process to record pipeline safety enforcement information and the extent to which its pipeline enforcement website aligns with key practices for transparently reporting data. Chapter 3 reviews the history and role of the federal program for pipeline safety, including a discussion of pipeline safety trends and major accidents. Chapter 4 identifies key regulatory changes that stakeholders believe will impact gas transmission pipeline safety.