The General Accounting Office (GAO) has recommended that the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) develop a “systematic process” for measuring the progress of its research and development (R&D) programs that are designed to improve the safety of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, and to report the results to Congress each year.

Despite a sevenfold increase in its R&D funding since 1998, the Department of Transportation’s OPS “has not developed a process for assessing and reporting on the results of its R&D program,” said the GAO report, which was released Monday. The agency has taken “some preliminary steps” in this area, but the GAO suggested that it adopt “identified best practices” to systematically review the success or failure of its R&D efforts.

“The results of evaluations can be used to refocus R&D priorities periodically, as necessary, to ensure that program resources are most effectively utilized,” according to the GAO.

The report, which was requested by the House Appropriations Committee, found that OPS’s current funding for R&D was “generally aligned with its mission and pipeline safety goals.” Of the $8.7 million allocated to the OPS for R&D this year, $4 million (46%) was earmarked for developing new technologies for preventing damage to pipelines and detecting leaks; $1.9 million (21%) for improving technologies for operating, controlling and monitoring the condition of pipelines; $1.7 million (19%) for improving pipeline materials; and $1.2 million (14%) for upgrading pipeline mapping data and data on the safety performance of pipelines.

As part of its report, the GAO surveyed the pipeline-safety R&D priorities of experts in the field, and found that their priorities were “generally consistent” with those of the OPS. It noted that 92% of the experts surveyed (45 of 49) gave a high priority to developing new technologies for preventing damage to pipes and spotting leaks; 80% (39 of 49) assigned a high priority to improvements in technologies for operating, controlling and monitoring the condition of pipelines; and only 31% (15 of 49) thought improvements to pipeline materials deserved a high priority.

But the GAO pointed out that support for increased R&D funding of pipeline materials varied across different groups of experts. “Although 70% (7 of 10) of experts from research organizations indicated that this area should receive high priority, only 21% (8 of 39) of the remaining experts — from government, public interest, industry, and technical and consulting organizations — indicated that it should receive high priority.”

In highlighting the importance of OPS’s R&D efforts, the GAO report cited the pipeline ruptures in Bellingham, WA, in 1999 and in Carlsbad, NM, in 2000, which it said together caused 15 deaths and an estimated $46 million in property and other damages. “Although pipelines have a better safety record than other modes of freight transportation, their cargo is dangerous and leaks or ruptures can have serious consequences.”

Between 1998 and 2002, the GAO study reported that a total of 1,770 pipeline accidents occurred, resulting in 100 fatalities and $621 million in property damage.

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