Feds unprepared for adequate pipeline regulation

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is unable to provide adequate oversight of the nation’s pipeline system, in large part because it lacks funding to hire the inspectors necessary to enforce the regulations.

The New York Times reports:

The little-known federal agency charged with monitoring the system and enforcing safety measures — the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration — is chronically short of inspectors and lacks the resources needed to hire more, leaving too much of the regulatory control in the hands of pipeline operators themselves, according to federal reports, an examination of agency data and interviews with safety experts.

They portray an agency that rarely levies fines and is not active enough in policing the aging labyrinth of pipelines, which has suffered thousands of significant hazardous liquid spills over the past two decades.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who oversees the pipeline agency, acknowledges weaknesses in the program and is asking Congress to pass legislation that would increase penalties for negligent operators and authorize the hiring of additional inspectors. That may be a tough sell in a Congress averse to new spending and stricter regulation.

“We need to know with great certainty that inspections and replacements have been done in a timely way that will prevent these kinds of spills from happening,” he said.

With the current battle over whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline reaching a fever pitch, this is a very important issue that has received too little attention.