NTSB -- NTSB CHAIRMAN NOTES ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY PHMSA IN RECENT YEARS BUT CITES CONCERNS ABOUT SEVERAL ISSUES

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NTSB PRESS RELEASE

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National Transportation Safety Board

Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2010

SB-10-23

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NTSB CHAIRMAN NOTES ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY PHMSA IN

RECENT YEARS BUT CITES CONCERNS ABOUT SEVERAL ISSUES

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National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P.

Hersman today told a Senate committee that, although the

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration has made

significant safety accomplishments in the past 5 years,

there are still several PHMSA-related issues with which the

Safety Board has concerns.

Testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,

Science and Transportation on the reauthorization of PHMSA,

Hersman said PHMSA has been responsive to the 24 NTSB safety

recommendations issued in the last 8 years, with 15 of them

being closed in an acceptable action status; none of them

has been closed in an unacceptable status.

One issue of concern to the Board, Hersman said, was that

PHMSA issued a final rule in 2009 requiring gas distribution

pipeline operators to develop and implement integrity

management programs similar to those for hazardous liquid

and gas transmission lines. Hersman said that although the

final rule emphasizes leak detection, it should also

specifically address the use of excess flow valves to

mitigate leaks.

Another issue Hersman raised was the regulation of low-

pressure pipeline systems. Although PHMSA has been mandated

by Congress to issue rules subjecting low-stress hazardous

liquid pipelines that pose a threat to sensitive

environmental areas to the same standards and regulations as

other hazardous liquid pipelines, exceptions listed in

PHMSA's 2008 rule meant that most low-stress pipelines and

on- and off-shore gathering pipelines remain essentially

unregulated. Earlier this week, PHMSA issued a "phase two"

proposal that expands coverage of the rule.

The NTSB will study the new proposal before commenting on

it, but Hersman spoke of the importance of rules in this

area. "The tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico involving the

Deepwater Horizon drilling platform is a grim reminder of

the damage that a major oil spill can cause. While the

magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon spill is far greater than

any known pipeline failure, the events in the Gulf should

remind those involved in the pipeline industry that all

pipelines must be sufficiently safeguarded and regulated in

order to protect the public and the environment."

Chairman Hersman's testimony is available on the Board's

website at

http://www.ntsb.gov/speeches/hersman/daph100624.html.

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NTSB Media Contact: Ted Lopatkiewicz

(202) 314-6100

lopatt@xxxxxxxx

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