Keeping America's Pipelines Safe and Secure: Key Issues for Congress

Parfomak, Paul W.

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Pipelines;    Energy;    Transportation;    Energy transportation;   

RP-ID  :  R41536
RP-ID  :  R41536_2012Feb13

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

Nearly half a million miles of pipeline transporting natural gas, oil, and other hazardous liquids crisscross the United States. While an efficient and fundamentally safe means of transport, many pipelines carry materials with the potential to cause public injury and environmental damage. The nation's pipeline networks are also widespread and vulnerable to accidents and terrorist attack. As it oversees the federal pipeline safety program and the federal role in pipeline security, Congress may wish to assess how the various elements of U.S. pipeline safety and security fit together in the nation's overall strategy to protect transportation infrastructure. Pipeline safety and security necessarily involve many groups: federal agencies, oil and gas pipeline associations, large and small pipeline operators, and local communities. Reviewing how these groups work together to achieve common goals could be an oversight challenge for Congress.