Safety

The Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE PIPES) Act, designed by a bipartisan quartet of lawmakers to improve the safety of the nation’s oil and natural gas pipelines and revamp procedures at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), was passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Wednesday morning.

After withering criticism of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) this summer in the U.S. House of Representatives, a bipartisan group of four lawmakers in the Senate has introduced a bill to reauthorize the program through 2019 and make other changes.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is preparing to send questionnaires to hundreds of onshore oil and gas (O&G) extraction workers in three states next year, part of a three-year study designed to make the industry safer.

California regulators on Thursday unanimously agreed to investigate the safety operations and culture at San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) following a string of incidents over the last five years.

House lawmakers blasted the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for failing to implement all sections of a pipeline safety law enacted in 2011. They said two recent oil spills in California and Illinois illustrate the urgency the agency faces for enacting the remaining parts of the law.

House lawmakers blasted the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for failing to implement all sections of a pipeline safety law enacted in 2011. They said two recent oil spills in California and Illinois illustrate the urgency the agency faces for enacting the remaining parts of the law.

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced a proposed rulemaking to expand the use of excess flow valves for natural gas distribution lines.

The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced a proposed rulemaking to expand the use of excess flow valves for natural gas distribution lines.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued an executive order on Thursday to establish a 14-member commission to focus on workplace safety in the oil and natural gas industry. The move follows a spike in fatal accidents at drilling and other related sites in the state over the last decade.