Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will be encouraging all regulated pipeline owners and operators to voluntarily adopt new safety management systems (SMS). The utilization of SMS will enhance pipeline safety and is supported by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“We are committed to carrying out President Trump’s agenda to unleash American energy in all ways – big and small. Here at the Department of Transportation, that mission includes ensuring our natural resources can efficiently and securely reach consumers. Enhancing pipeline safety through innovative management systems is just one way we can boost our energy security and lower costs for the American people,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
“Safety Management Systems bring about a much-needed evolution of internal pipeline safety management structures, policies, and procedures that will ultimately lead us to achieve our goal of zero incidents,” said PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman. “We encourage all regulated pipeline owners and operators to fully embrace the continuous improvement and enhanced safety benefits that come with implementing a pipeline SMS.”
Additional Information:
PHMSA published an Advisory Bulletin in the Federal Register that advocates for the voluntary adoption of pipeline SMS by all regulated pipeline owners and operators.
Pipeline SMS offer an organization-wide framework for evaluating, managing, and responding to the safety risks associated with various complex pipeline operational processes. The NTSB has long encouraged pipeline SMS implementation. It first recommended that the American Petroleum Institute facilitate the development of a pipeline SMS following the July 2010 release of more than 20,000 barrels of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River near Marshall, Michigan. A multi-stakeholder working group that included PHMSA representatives issued API Recommended Practice 1173 in 2015.
Pipeline owners and operators have implemented pipeline SMS on approximately 86 percent of the 2.3-million-mile U.S. gas distribution pipeline network. Despite this, many individual operators-mostly smaller entities servicing less than 25,000 customers-have not yet begun implementing pipeline SMS based on RP 1173 or other similar programs.
This Advisory Bulletin is issued in accordance with NTSB Safety Recommendation P-24-002, which advises PHMSA to issue an advisory bulletin to promote the benefits of pipeline SMS. That recommendation was issued in response to a pipeline release that occurred on October 1, 2021, in San Pedro Bay in California. Additionally, Section 205 of the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2020 mandated PHMSA and State authorities to promote and to assess pipeline safety management system frameworks developed by operators of natural gas distribution systems.
The full text of the Advisory Bulletin is available in the Federal Register.