Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) was created under the Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act (P.L. 108-426) of 2004. United States president George W. Bush signed the legislation into law on November 30, 2004. The purpose of the Act was to provide the Department a more focused research organization and establish a separate operating administration for pipeline safety and hazardous materials transportation safety operations. In addition, the Act presented the Department an opportunity to establish model practices in the area of government budget and information practices in support of the President's Management Agenda initiatives. PHMSA is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation.

PHMSA is the federal agency charged with the safe and secure movement of almost 1 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by all modes of transportation. The agency also oversees the nation's pipeline infrastructure which accounts for 64 percent of the energy commodities consumed in the United States.

Cynthia L. Quarterman, an attorney and former government official, became the third Administrator in November 2009.

Programs

Hazardous Materials Safety

The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) is the federal safety authority for the transportation of hazardous materials by air, rail, highway, and water, with the exception of bulk transportation of hazmat by vessel. OHMS promulgates a national safety program to minimize the risks to life and property inherent in commercial transportation of hazardous materials.

The OHMS program consists of:

• Evaluating safety risks
• Developing and enforcing standards for transporting hazardous materials
• Educating shippers and carriers
• Investigating hazmat incidents and failures
• Conducting research
• Providing grants to improve emergency response to incidents

The OHMS website includes OHM guidance documents, hazmat carriers' special permits and approvals information, reports and incidents summaries, penalty action reports, registration information and forms, the Emergency Response Guidebook for First Responders, Freedom of Information Act requests, and the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants program.

Pipeline Safety

The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is the federal safety authority for the nation's 2.3 million miles of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. OPS has the mission to ensure the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation's pipeline transportation system.

Controversy

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is coming under criticism for not releasing a Canadian company’s plans for managing oil spills and estimating a worst-case scenario in the event its pipeline burst in the United States. 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.

According to the New York Times, Federal records show that although the pipeline industry reported 25 percent fewer significant incidents from 2001 through 2010 than in the prior decade, the amount of hazardous liquids being spilled, though down, remains substantial. There are still more than 100 significant spills each year — a trend that dates back more than 20 years. And the percentage of dangerous liquids recovered by pipeline operators after a spill has dropped considerably in recent years.

Integrity Management Program (IMP)

Pipeline Risk Management Information System (PRIMIS) Integrity Management Programs have led to a reduced amount of pipeline accidents. These were originally created for transmission pipelines.

• 2001 Liquid Integrity Management Program came into law. (LIMP)
• 2003 Transmission Integrity Management Program came into law (TIMP)
• 2008 The final rule is expected for Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP)

National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS)

The U.S. DOT Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) administers the national regulatory program to assure the safe and environmentally sound transportation of natural gas, liquefied natural gas and hazardous liquids by pipeline. The Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act of 1996 requires that OPS adopt rules requiring interstate gas pipeline operators to provide maps of their facilities to the governing body of each municipality in which the pipeline is located.

After September 11 for security concerns the NPMS was no longer was made available to the public. National Pipeline Maps can still be bought from PennWell Corporation.

See also

• List of North American natural gas pipelines
• Weld monitoring, testing and analysis

External links

• Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)
• PHMSA Public Map Viewer - Application enables the user to view the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) data one county at a time. The user may zoom in to a map scale of 1:24,000.
• Williams' Gas Transmission Pipeline Integrity Management Program
• Buckeye's Liquid Transmission Pipeline Integrity Management Program
• PennWell maps
• Full List of US Pipeline Regulatory Bodies by State / Territory The US State / Territory enforcement agencies for PHMSA