The General Accountability Office (GAO), a research agency that is part of the U.S. Congress, released a new study last month on pipeline safety. Performance Measures Needed to Assess Recent Changes to Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Regulations was released June 22. The GAO reports states:
“The U.S. hazardous liquid pipeline network runs for over 220,000 miles and is critical to the economy. Pipelines are considered a relatively safe way to transport crude oil and other hazardous liquids, but accidents can happen.
“The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration amended safety regulations in 2019. Stakeholders told us the changes could improve safety without presenting significant challenges. However, several operators said they would need to modify or replace pipelines to accommodate certain inspection tools. The agency hasn’t developed measures to assess whether the changes improve safety. We recommended doing so.”
For more information about the report, including a summary of its recommendations and a copy of the full document, click here.