Advisory Committee Meetings May Add Insight To Policy Priorities

Oil and gas pipeline technical advisory committee meetings will be held on December 13-15 in Washington, D.C. The agenda covers updates on PHMSA pipeline safety programs and policy issues. The oil and gas peer review committees, comprised of federal and state agency representatives, industry and the public, will discuss a variety of topics within that agenda, related to inspection and enforcement, updates regarding pending rulemakings and regulatory reform initiatives, underground gas storage, and more. This is one of the first opportunities to hear from the Agency's new leadership (especially recently appointed PHMSA Administrator Skip Elliott and Deputy Administrator Drue Pearce). The meetings should provide valuable insight to the priorities and policy initiatives under the Trump Administration affecting oil and gas critical energy infrastructure.

The Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) and the Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committee (LPAC) are statutorily mandated advisory committees under the Pipeline Safety Act (49 U.S.C. § 60115) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2). They advise PHMSA on the technical feasibility, reasonableness, cost-effectiveness, and practicability of proposed pipeline safety standards and associated risk assessments. PHMSA is not required to accept the recommendations of the committees, but where the conclusions of the majority of the committee are not accepted, the Agency's rationale for any rejection must be addressed in the preamble of a final rule.

The GPAC and LPAC will meet in a joint session on December 13, 2017, to discuss an overview of Agency developments presented by newly sworn-in PHMSA Administrator Skip Elliott. In addition, various agency representatives are expected to present targeted briefings on the following: regulatory reform and pending rulemakings, enforcement (including a session focused on excavation damage), pipeline inspections, underground natural gas storage, Safety Management Systems, research and development, and the Voluntary Information Sharing working group. Each briefing includes time allotted for questions from committee members and the public.

GPAC will meet separately on December 14 and 15 to consider...