This week, APGA hosted members in Washington, D.C., as part of the Winter Board and Committee meetings. On Monday, the APGA Board heard from Tristan Brown, the Deputy Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Tristan’s discussion centered around the $1 billion grant program exclusively available to publicly and community-owned natural gas utilities to fund the repair, replacement, and rehabilitation of existing pipeline infrastructure, in addition to certain equipment purchases. APGA will host PHMSA personnel for a webinar on the grant program on February 8 at 2 pm ET. More details on that event are
here. PHMSA leadership also mentioned an upcoming correspondence from the regulator to utilities. APGA staff will follow up with any information as soon as it is learned. A
webpage has been created to provide the latest on the grant program.
In addition to the grant program, Tristan provided an update on PHMSA’s implementation of the mandates included in the 2020 PIPES Act. He alluded to a virtual event, which was announced later in the week. More details on the webinar, titled Addressing Inspection of Operators' Plans to Eliminate Hazardous Leaks, Minimize Releases of Methane & Remediate/Replace Leak-Prone Pipe, can be found
here.
Many of the APGA committees met, too. The Government Relations Committee, which is the combination of the Regulatory Subcommittee and the Legislative Subcommittee, heard updates on several efforts that are going to make 2022 a busy year. The APGA Advocacy Priorities, provided below, were discussed and will shape the focus of this year:
- Appliance Efficiency Rulemakings
- Gas Consumer Emergency Protections
- Legislation that Preserves Direct Use
- Pipeline Safety
o Addressing mandates from the 2020 PIPES Act
o Industry Recommended Practice on Public Awareness
o PHMSA Grant Program
- Practical Pipeline Reliability and Cybersecurity Policies
- Section 5: Refund Authority for FERC
Finally, Christopher Guith, Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute, joined the Gas Supply Committee. He discussed the Institute’s positions and efforts to support American natural gas. Christopher's presentation covered topics such as LNG exports, natural gas infrastructure, social cost of carbon, and the Institute’s
Natural Gas, Natural Advantage campaign, all of which evoked significant discussion amongst members.
For questions on this article, please contact Stuart Saulters of APGA staff by phone at 202-544-1334 or by email at
ssaulters@apga.org.