Top U.S. pipeline industry leaders and key trade associations united last week to urge the passage of an effective and responsible bill to promote the safety of more than two million miles of oil and natural gas pipelines.

In a letter released last Tuesday addressed to U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Norman Mineta, pipeline leaders offered their assistance to the department and said, “Our industries have joined together to address both regulatory and legislative pipeline safety issues in a unified fashion.”

The letter included the signatures of 14 leaders of the oil and natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline industries and the leaders of the five prominent trade associations, which include the American Gas Association, American Petroleum Institute, Association of Oil Pipe Lines, American Public Gas Association and Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.

Accompanying the letter to Secretary Mineta was the industry’s unified position paper calling for pipeline safety regulatory and legislative action. The trade associations said the position paper demonstrates the industry’s strong commitment to a top-notch safety program and stresses the importance of public confidence as “a prerequisite for operating, upgrading and expanding America’s pipeline network to meet America’s energy needs reliably with reasonably priced fuels.”

The industry position paper outlined key principles that should guide discussions regarding pipeline safety legislation. Included in the paper were items on increasing safety and enhancing public confidence in the nationwide pipeline network, providing for an adequately staffed and appropriately funded Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), and recognizing and supporting DOT’s timely regulatory actions to develop and implement new rules for enhancing pipeline integrity and ensuring pipeline operator job qualifications. The paper also urged Congress to move forward to pass consensus pipeline safety legislation.

Because public confidence in the safety of pipelines is a prerequisite for operating, upgrading and expanding America’s pipeline network to meet the nation’s energy needs reliably with reasonably priced fuels, the associations said they are united in supporting the development of a House pipeline safety reauthorization bill in tandem with the aggressive safety regulations being promulgated by the DOT’s Office of Pipeline Safety. In addressing pipeline safety issues, the associations urged Congress to consider the following:

The groups said that a pipeline safety bill including the following core provisions would guarantee strong bipartisan support in Congress.

The trade associations said the unified pipeline industry is dedicated to working with Congress, the DOT and other Administration officials to ensure the nation’s pipeline network is safe and secure. They also pledged to work with these policymakers to pass a pipeline safety bill.

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