American Gas Association advocates greater pipeline safety

The American Gas Association (AGA) is urging federal officials to take greater measures to ensure pipeline safety.

In recent testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy AGA Vice President of Operations and Engineering Services Christina Sames expressed there is little in the discussion draft released last week accomplishing the goal of enhancing the safety of America’s natural gas pipelines.

“The industry is supportive of flexible, risk-based, and practicable improvements to pipeline safety that reflect lessons learned from past pipeline incidents,” Sames said. “Safety is at the very core of what AGA and its members do and we go well beyond regulation to improve pipeline safety.”

The discussion draft eliminates the use of Direct Assessment, which determines where pipeline corrosion has occurred and indicates where corrosion could occur while also requiring operators to send an overwhelming amount of information to emergency responders despite repeated requests from fire marshals, fire chiefs and emergency responders for simpler, condensed information.

The AGA has suggested initiatives to preserve industry engagement in Pipeline Safety Rulemaking by upholding the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s regulatory process and support flexibility in rulemaking by recognizing gas distribution systems differ and avoid one-size-fits-all mandates. They also seek to not obstruct state pipeline replacement programs under new mandates that delay pipe replacements or require replacement faster than work can be accomplished safely, reliably, and without compromising quality.