The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) is preparing for congressional passage of a comprehensive federal pipeline safety bill in 2011. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) have introduced a bill that might be marked up by the end of April and sent to the Senate floor. The issue has received a great deal of public attention recently because of several high-profile accidents, including the September 2010 gas utility pipeline explosion and fire in San Bruno, Calif., which killed 8 people and destroyed 37 homes. While pipeline legislation is expected, pipeline operators have also been working independently on safety issues and have set very high standards for materials they use in their systems now. INGAA has also been working with manufacturers on this issue, and an INGAA spokesman said that the pipeline industry will have to pay even more attention to safety matters because the public perception that pipelines aren’t safe will lead to more opposition to building of needed pipelines.
