Need To Assess Federal Role in Regulating and Enforcing Pipeline Safety

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed federal gas and hazardous liquids pipeline safety programs. The Department of Transportation's (DOT) goal is to perform a comprehensive annual inspection of each pipeline operator under its jurisdiction. GAO found that, in 1983, DOT performed comprehensive inspections of only 24 percent of these operators. As of April 1984, DOT had 17 regional office inspectors, which GAO believes is insufficient to carry out the agency's inspection and enforcement responsibilities. State participation in pipeline inspection programs is voluntary; therefore, DOT cannot require the states to maintain their current level of inspection activity, assume responsibility for additional intrastate pipelines, or correct deficiencies in their programs. A number of pipeline facilities and commodities transported by pipeline not currently being regulated by DOT, including rural gas gathering lines, gas service lines, and hazardous liquids storage facilities, may need to be regulated depending on the severity of the associated safety problems. GAO believes that, despite current staffing and resource limitations, DOT can take actions to make its inspection activities more efficient.

In response to a congressional request, GAO: (1) provided information on what actions the Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) took in response to prior recommendations; (2) discussed problems with RSPA pipeline safety data systems; and (3) summarized the results of RSPA pipeline contractor inspections since 1980. GAO found that: (1) the only recommendation that remains under review relates to redefining the federal role and responsibilities for ensuring safety of intrastate pipelines; (2) since state participation is voluntary, RSPA cannot require states to maintain an adequate inspection activity level, assume responsibility for additional intrastate pipelines, or correct deficiencies in their programs; (3) RSPA has initiated controls over data entry to improve its accuracy and is using a microcomputer to timely enter data into the system; and (4) of the 20 inspections RSPA conducted of the pipeline operator, 6 required no enforcement action, while 12 required notices of probable violation, of which 3 remained unresolved.

This report covers ways in which the 112th Congress can introduce relevant legislation to safeguard pipelines that transport natural gas, oil, and other hazardous liquids across the United States. While an efficient and fundamentally safe means of transport, many pipelines carry materials with the potential to cause public injury and environmental damage; the networks are also widespread and vulnerable to accidents and terrorist attack.