Mar. 12: The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee will hold a hearing to review implementation of the 2006 Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement and Safety (PIPES) Act, with a particular focus on safety reassessment intervals for natural gas pipelines. Scheduled witnesses include Carl. T. Johnson, administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) within the Department of Transportation; Ohio Public Utilities Commission member Don Mason; Phillip D. Wright, gas pipeline president at Williams Cos. Inc.; Pipeline Safety Trust board member Rick Kessler; Paul Preketes, senior vice president of energy delivery at Consumers Energy Co., and Timothy Felt, president and chief executive of Explorer Pipeline Services Co. and chairman of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL). The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in Rayburn House Office Building Room 2322.
Why it matters: At first glance, the subcommittee wants to examine PIPES and its safety reassessment intervals, which remain a sore point with interstate gas pipelines. But the notice's reference to crude oil spills in gathering systems on Alaska's North Slope and the presence of a witness representing AOPL shows that members also want to look at oil pipelines. They probably will question Johnson about regulations dealing with low-pressure oil pipelines which PHMSA was developing when the North Slope crude leaks occurred, how they are being implemented and whether they will be effective.
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