The US Conference of Mayors is applauding President Obama and members of Congress for renewal of the Pipeline Safety Act.

The Pipeline Safety Act of 2011 expired in 2015 and was recently renewed by Congress and enacted by President Obama.

According to a resolution passed by USCM at its 84th Annual Meeting this summer in Indianapolis, the new law, among other issues, requires the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to set federal minimum safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities, allowing states to go above those standards for intrastate facilities, authorizes emergency order authority to the pipeline industry, taking into account public health and safety, network, and customer impacts, updates regulations for certain liquefied natural gas facilities, increases safety inspection requirements for certain underwater oil pipelines, ensures that pipeline operators receive timely post-inspection information from PHMSA and that product composition information is quickly provided to first responders after an incident.

The measure also renews Technical Assistance Grants (TAG) to provide funding to cities and other local entities seeking to improve pipeline safety, such as funding to support the Mayors’ Council on Pipeline Safety which is chaired by Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski and San Bruno, CA. Mayor Jim Ruane.

The resolution also calls on Congress to appropriate funds to support TAG grants to support the important work of mayors and local leaders in addressing pipeline safety issues.

Allentown was the recipient of TAG funds in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

A September 2010 pipeline explosion and fire in San Bruno killed eight people, destroyed 38 homes, and badly damaged 70 more.

A February 2011 natural gas explosion in Allentown killed five people and destroyed eight homes.

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