The 5th Circuit issued a lengthy opinion on August 14, 2017, reversing most of the violations of a PHMSA enforcement action that began in November 2013 in conjunction with investigation of a failure on the Pegasus Pipeline. In that matter...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on August 4, 2017, titled “ Pipeline Safety – Additional Actions Could Improve Federal Use of Data on Pipeline Materials and Corrosion .” The 55 page Report, prepared in response to a...
On July 19, 2017, the U.S. House voted to give lead authority for authorizing cross border oil and gas pipelines to FERC, and to the Secretary of Energy for cross border electric transmission lines. HR 2883, entitled Promoting Cross-Border Energy...
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently published a notice inviting public comment to identify statutes, rules, regulations, and interpretations in policy statements or guidance that “unjustifiably delay or prevent completion of surface, maritime, and aviation transportation infrastructure projects.” As...
Oil and gas discoveries in various shale plays around the U.S. over the past decade have led to an increased rise in the number of transfers and acquisitions of pipeline assets, including pipelines serving processing plants, producers, storage facilities, and...
On December 19, 2016, PHMSA issued an interim final rule (IFR) to establish for the first time minimum federal safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities. The rule was issued in response to the 2015 Aliso Canyon storage leak...
As part of his regulatory reform agenda , President Donald Trump instructed federal agencies to review their regulations to identify requirements that burden businesses and industry. See EO 13771 and EO 13777 . In order to comply with these directives...
The Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) will meet [Notice of advisory committee meeting ] in Washington, D.C. early next month to convene the second public meeting regarding PHMSA’s proposed gas rules, often referred to as the gas mega rule. The...
The Pipeline Safety Management System (SMS) industry standard API RP 1173 was published in July 2015 and developed by API with input from NTSB, PHMSA, states, and industry representatives, following the 2010 oil pipeline accident in Marshall, Michigan. The standard’s...
President Trump has issued 30 Executive Orders and 28 Executive Memoranda since taking office on January 20, 2017, despite his failure to pass any major laws. That is more Executive Orders than any President has issued in the first 100...