Safety agency falls behind in rulemaking for hazardous materials

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has failed to implement nearly a third of its required mandates and recommendations since 2005, according to a new inspector general report from the Department of Transportation (DOT).

The safety agency responsible for overseeing pipeline and hazardous materials transport has closed 173 mandates and recommendations over the last 11 years, but 90 still remain open, according to the audit. Twenty of the remaining items are congressional mandates, while the rest are recommendations from other government agencies.

{mosads}Some of the overdue mandates include requiring leak detection on hazardous liquid pipelines, requiring pipeline operators to report pipeline leaks within an hour of discovery and requiring automatic shut-off valves on certain pipeline transmission lines.

The inspector general report found that PHSMA has not provided adequate oversight of efforts to implement mandates and recommendations or coordinated with the other relevant agencies on rulemakings and international standards.

“This lack of sufficient processes, project management, and oversight has impeded the agency’s ability to meet deadlines,” the report said.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, requested the report.

DeFazio sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx blasting the findings and urging the agency to address the statutory mandates and recommendations before “another tragedy occurs.”

“I requested the audit because of my concerns with PHMSA’s long history of failing to take appropriate regulatory action to address well-known pipeline and hazardous materials safety issues before a tragic accident occurs,” DeFazio wrote. “The IG released its audit and unfortunately the review is as expected.”

The report offered a slew of recommendations, including developing an agency-wide policy for implementing mandates and recommendations, implementing a rulemaking prioritization process based on risk and developing written agreements with other agencies on coordination for rulemaking.

The report said that PHSMA “has recognized this issue, has recently identified many areas for improvement related to rulemakings, and is currently developing plans to address them through organizational changes.”

But DeFazio questioned whether the safety agency’s reorganizational plan to address the IG recommendations will be effectively implemented.

“PHMSA has proposed instituting a ‘policy’ rather than a more permanent memorandum of agreement with the operating administrations, which would be implemented until December 2017,” he wrote. “I find both PHMSA’s approach and timeline unacceptable.”