The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing this week to take the first step in renewing a long-delayed effort to get new, bipartisan pipeline safety legislation to the president’s desk.
The Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines and Safety will meet Thursday to collect fresh input from industry players and advocates eager to see Congress extend the authorization for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the federal government’s chief pipeline safety regulator.
“PHMSA … plays a key role in unleashing America’s energy independence and ensuring Americans have access to reliable, safe and affordable energy,” said subcommittee Chair Todd Young (R-Ind.). “I look forward to hearing more about pipeline operations in the U.S. and ways these operations can be improved as we begin to draft a pipeline safety reauthorization bill.”
The safety agency, part of the Department of Transportation, crafts and enforces regulations for 3.3 million miles of pipeline and shipments of hazardous materials across the nation.
