WASHINGTON, D.C. –Consumer Energy Alliance today commended a group of bipartisan lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives for recently introducing legislation (HR 8085) to establish a safety enhancement pilot program at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that will incentivize pipeline operators to test new safety inspection tools and leak detection innovations. Michael Zehr, CEA’s federal affairs advisor, said:
“Thank you to Reps. Marc Veasey, Lizzie Fletcher, Bob Latta and Troy Balderson for their bipartisan leadership in this area and for thinking outside of the box to help pursue pipeline safety innovation. This action demonstrates that even in these divided times we can still come together on behalf of consumers and communities that depend on the vital energy products pipelines provide every day. While most Americans don’t think about how pipelines affect them, they are absolutely critical in providing the comfort, mobility and connections that make our lives possible – this is especially true today as our nation recovers from COVID-19.”
“By allowing data sharing between industry and PHMSA to demonstrate the effectiveness of new technologies without triggering additional regulatory burdens, this important legislation will promote a quicker adoption of safety innovations which in turn can spur faster development of new strategies and technology to keep communities and the environment safe.”
“We encourage Congressional leaders to advance this type of bipartisan, forward-thinking legislation that raises the bar on safety without new regulatory burdens that could hurt energy delivery. And we urge the House of Representatives to take up and swiftly pass the Senate’s bipartisan Pipeline Safety Reauthorization bill as well.”
