Pages

March 5, 2011

New pipeline safety legislation in USA - Also needed in India?

An article mentions the following:
"Two US senators have introduced legislation to enhance pipeline safety.
The US has approximately 2.5 million miles of pipelines that transport oil, natural gas and hazardous liquids.  These pipelines are an integral component of the US economy and energy supply, and are generally considered a safer mode of transportation than other options for moving gas and liquids. 
Since 2006, there have been approximately 40 pipeline incidents each year that resulted in a fatality or injury.  Last September, a natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, Calif., and quickly engulfed nearby homes in fire. The explosion, and subsequent fire, led to the death of eight people, and destroyed or damaged over 150 residences.
 The legislation introduced by Senators Lautenberg and Rockefeller would help mitigate pipeline risks through a number of measures.  The legislation would reauthorize and strengthen the authority of the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) through fiscal year 2014. 
Specifically, the “Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2011” includes provisions that would:

  • Increase civil penalties for violators of pipeline regulations and add civil penalties for obstructing investigations;
  • Expand excess flow valve requirements to include multi-family buildings and small commercial facilities;
  • Eliminate exemptions and require all local and state government agencies, and their contractors, to notify “One-Call” notification centers before digging;
  • Require the installation of automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves on new transmission pipelines;Require the Secretary of Transportation to establish time limits on accident and leak notification by pipeline operators to local and state government officials and emergency responders;
  • Require the Secretary of Transportation to evaluate whether integrity management system requirements should be expanded beyond currently defined high consequence areas and establish regulations as appropriate;
  • Make pipeline information, inspections, and standards available to the public on the PHMSA’s web site
  • Authorize additional pipeline inspectors and pipeline safety support employees, through a phased-in increase over the next four years;
  • Allow PHMSA to recover costs for oversight of major pipeline design and construction projects; and
  • Authorize appropriations for PHMSA for fiscal years 2011 through 2014."
With the natural gas pipeline network in India expanding in a big way, we should keep the above in mind.

Read the article in this link.

No comments:

Post a Comment