Federal pipeline regulators are urging companies transporting oil and gas to adopt an industry-recognized process to reduce leaks, ruptures and other mishaps — although a top safety advocate questioned the voluntary approach.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced this week that his department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued an advisory bulletin encouraging utility pipeline companies to voluntarily adopt “safety management systems” for their networks. Duffy tied his call to the Trump administration’s policy of working to increase oil and gas production.
“We are committed to carrying out President [Donald] Trump’s agenda to unleash American energy in all ways — big and small,” Duffy said in a news release. “Enhancing pipeline safety through innovative management systems is just one way we can boost our energy security and lower costs for the American people.”
The Department of Transportation said companies have implemented safety management system, or SMS, procedures on approximately 86 percent of the country’s 2.3 million miles of distribution lines — the gas mains and small pipes that deliver gas to homes and businesses.
