1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Pipeline Safety: Overdue Statutory Mandates name redacted Specialist in Energy and Infrastructure Policy July 27, 2018 The safety of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines in the United States is regulated by the Pipel
2、ine and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) within the Department of Transportation (DOT). For decades, Congress has reauthorized DOTs pipeline safety program in stand-alone legislation. In addition, Congress has used reauthorizations to impose on PHMSA various mandates regarding stand
3、ards, studies, and other elements of pipeline safety regulationusually in response to major pipeline accidents. The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-90) and the PIPES Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-183) together included 61 such mandates. As of June 21, 2018, the
4、agency had fulfilled 47 of these. Some in Congress are concerned that key mandates remain unfulfilled, in some cases years beyond the deadlines specified in statute. Key Overdue Rules Congressional oversight of PHMSA has focused on several mandated regulations (rules) with potentially significant im