Client Alert
| December 21, 2011
Congress Passes Pipeline Safety Bill
On December 13, 2011, Congress passed the "Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011." In addition to reauthorizing federal pipeline safety programs of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) through FY 2015, the Act directs the Secretary of Transportation to undertake a number of reviews, studies and reports, some of which may result in natural gas and hazardous liquids pipeline safety rulemakings. Notably, PHMSA is already considering several of the natural gas pipeline safety issues addressed in the Act, including among other items requirements regarding the installation of automatic or remotely actuated valves, adequacy of records substantiating pipeline maximum allowable operating pressure and scope of the integrity management program requirements, through an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published August 25, 2011 (comments are due to PHMSA by January 20, 2012).
This memorandum is intended only as a general discussion of these issues. It is not considered to be legal advice. We would be pleased to provide additional details or advice about specific situations. For additional information on this important topic, please feel free to call upon your Dewey & LeBoeuf relationship partner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form, without our prior written consent.
For further information on Dewey & LeBoeuf, please visit www.dl.com. +1 888 532 6383