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Pipeline Safety and Security:
Federal Programs
Introduction'
Nearly half a million miles of oil and gas transmission pipeline crisscross the
United States.2 These pipelines are integral to U.S. energy supply and have vital
links to other critical infrastructure, such as power plants, airports, and military bases.
While an efficient and fundamentally safe means of transport, many pipelines carry
volatile or flammable materials with the potential to cause public injury and
environmental damage. The nation's pipeline networks are also widespread, running
alternately through remote and densely populated regions; consequently, these
systems are vulnerable to accidents and terrorist attack. The 2006 partial shutdown
of the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil field, the largest in the United States, due to pipeline
safety problems was a recent demonstration of this vulnerability.3
The 107th Congress passed legislation to improve pipeline safety and security
practices, and to provide federal oversight of operator security programs (P.L. 107-
355, P.L. 107-71, P.L. 107-296). The 109th Congress is examining the progress of
these efforts as it considers reauthorization of the federal Office of Pipeline Safety
under the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2006 (H.R. 5782), introduced by
Representative Don Young on July 13, 2006, reported by the House Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure on July 19, 2006, and reported by the House
Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 27, 2006. In the Senate, the
Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement, and Safety Act of 2006 (S. 3961) was
introduced by Senator Ted Stevens and three cosponsors on September 27, 2006 and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The 109th
Congress is also considering proposals to expand the pipeline security activities of
the Transportation Security Administration including provisions in S. 3961 and
provisions in the Transportation Security Improvement Act of 2005 (S. 1052)
introduced by Senator Ted Stevens on May 17, 2005 and reported by the Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on February 27, 2006.
1 Parts of this report were previously published in CRS Report RL31990, Pipeline Security:
An Overview of Federal Activities and Current Policy Issues, by Paul W. Parfomak.
2 Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National Transportation Statistics 2005, Dec.
2005, Table 1-10. In this report "oil" includes petroleum and other hazardous liquids such
as gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, and propane, unless otherwise noted.
3 For specific discussion of BP Alaska's pipeline problems, see CRS Report RL33629, BP
Alaska North Slope Pipeline Shutdowns: Regulatory Policy Issues, by Paul W. Parfomak.
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Pipeline Safety and Security: Federal Programs, report, October 11, 2006; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc819589/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.