In February, Tristan Brown was appointed as the Deputy Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and currently serves as the Acting Administrator of PHMSA. On March 10, APGA met with Mr. Brown and leadership from the Office of Pipeline Safety at PHMSA, including Alan Mayberry, Linda Daugherty and Massoud Tahamtani. APGA was represented by Operations & Safety Committee leadership including Carl Smith from Greenville Utilities Commission and Jocelyn McInturff from Knoxville Utilities Board, and APGA staff, Dave Schryver and Erin Kurilla. The meeting provided an opportunity for APGA to introduce itself to newly appointed PHMSA leadership and share policy positions on pipeline safety topics. Most importantly, these stakeholder outreach meetings allow APGA to highlight voluntary association initiatives that address these high priority topics.
Mandated in the PIPES Act of 2020, the next major PHMSA rulemaking that will impact natural gas distribution systems will concern leak detection and repair. Both during this meeting and a subsequent meeting with technical staff later in the day, APGA members highlighted their excellent safety record, which has been achieved through utilizing proven leak detection technologies and appropriately aggressive leak repair strategies. With PHMSA leadership, APGA also highlighted the System Operational Achievement Recognition program and touted the widespread embracing of Pipeline Safety Management Systems by APGA members.
APGA thanks PHMSA for the opportunity and Greenville Utilities Commission, Knoxville Utilities Board, City Utilities of Springfield, City of Mesa, Easton Utilities and Jackson Energy Authority for their contributions to these conversations.
For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
ekurilla@apga.org.