The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spent zilch in fiscal years 2003 and 2004 to develop technologies to bolster the security of natural gas and hazardous products pipelines, according to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week.

The two agencies funded over 200 research and development (R&D) projects aimed at developing technologies to enhance security over the past two years, the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said in a 70-page report. But none of the projects involved pipelines.

In fiscal year 2003, the TSA spent 81% of its $21 million transportation security R&D budget, or $17 million, on aviation projects, while the DHS spent about half of its allocated $26 million, or $12.6 million, on projects related to multimodal transportation, the GAO noted. Multimodal involves the use of more than one mode of transportation — ships, trucks or trains — for a raw material to reach its destination. Liquefied natural gas (LNG), which first must be shipped by tanker and then transported over pipelines, would fall into this category, a TSA spokeswoman said.

In fiscal year 2004, the TSA continued to budget most of its $159 million for aviation, and the DHS used most of its $88 million budget for aviation projects as well, the report said. Although it was transferred to DHS a few years ago, the TSA continues to be a “distinct agency” within DHS until Nov. 25 of this year.

When compared to aviation, little was allocated to highways ($4 million), maritime ($14.4 million), rail ($1.3 million) and transit ($5 million) by the TSA and DHS combined over the two fiscal years, the GAO noted. Pipeline transportation was the only category to get zero dollars.

The president’s fiscal year 2005 budget requested $154 million for the TSA’s R&D program and about $1 billion for the DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, which includes some transportation security R&D, the report said. It did not say how much, if any, would go toward pipeline-related R&D projects.

Congressional members called on the GAO to conduct the review in the wake of the bombings of the rail system in Madrid, Spain, earlier this year. There is growing concern in Congress about whether the TSA’s and the DHS’s efforts to counter terrorist threats to the nation’s transportation systems are proceeding fast enough and are focused on the appropriate technologies, the agency said.

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