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APGA Responds to Pipeline Reliability Legislation

By Emily Wong posted 01-20-2022 12:13 PM

  
In December of last year, Representative Bobby Rush (D-IL) introduced H.R. 6084, the Energy Product Reliability Act. The legislation would establish a new Energy Product Reliability Organization (EPRO) to create mandatory reliability standards for energy pipelines, including gas distribution. On January 19, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Rush, held a hearing on the proposal. Chairman Glick from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Deputy Secretary Turk from the Department of Energy (DOE) testified in support of the legislation.

When the bill was introduced in December, APGA joined other pipeline trade associations in sending a letter to the committee outlining concerns about their proposal. Most notably, APGA called attention to how the legislation as drafted would create a duplicative and potentially conflicting regulatory structure with multiple federal agencies responsible for setting cybersecurity standards. APGA also called attention to the conflict it would create with state and local regulators who are currently responsible for regulating intrastate and distribution lines that are outside of FERC’s jurisdiction under the Natural Gas Act.

The same associations issued a joint press release on the morning of the hearing reiterating the concerns raised in the letter. APGA also joined the American Gas Association on a separate letter to the committee regarding distribution specific concerns about the proposal.

The press release, the December letter, and the letter sent by AGA and APGA this week are all available on the APGA website.

For questions on this article, please contact Emily Wong of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ewong@apga.org.

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