Opinion: New pipeline safety rules must be enacted for the health of current and future generations

The blue flame on the stovetops in millions of American homes is fed by a web of some 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines crisscrossing the country – including some 90,000 miles of these conduits in Pennsylvania. Regulated by an outdated set of standards, many of these pipelines are old, prone to dangerous leaks and ruptures, and begging for the attention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.   

Secretary Buttigieg oversees the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, an agency tasked with addressing the health, safety and environmental risks associated with our nation’s pipelines. But PHMSA’s current regulations allow operators to use outdated leak detection and repair practices and exempt hundreds of thousands of miles of pipelines from basic safety standards. 

As public servants, our duty is to make decisions and support policies that protect their health and well-being. Because we take this duty seriously, we recently joined more than 160 local, tribal and state elected officials from across the nation in signing a letter urging Secretary Buttigieg to finalize a new rule that would drastically improve pipeline safety. 

Last year, PHMSA released a proposal to modernize federal pipeline regulations and improve operational and leak management practices. While there’s room for improvement in the proposed Gas Pipeline Leak Detection and Repair Rule, it’s an important step in preventing leaks and costly incidents, protecting communities and reducing methane pollution by as much as 55%.

According to one study, U.S. gas pipelines leak up to 2.6 million tons of methane each year, which has the same climate impact as driving almost 50 million passenger cars for a year. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Updated pipeline standards would target a major source of these emissions, which is paramount to addressing the climate crisis and achieving national climate goals. 

PHMSA’s rule would apply to the country’s 2.3 million miles of distribution pipelines – the networks of smaller, locally operated pipelines that deliver gas to our homes and businesses – and extend oversight to some 70,000 miles of gas gathering pipelines, which carry unprocessed, raw gas from well sites to processing facilities and are usually found in and around oil and gas production areas. 

The proposal contains several important provisions, including requiring more frequent leak detection surveys for pipelines and faster turnaround for repairs; prioritizing repairs to leaks that pose larger public safety and environmental risks; requiring operators to minimize methane releases through practices like venting; and increasing public transparency with information regarding pipeline infrastructure leaks and their impacts. 

Technology and best practices have evolved, and so should the regulations that govern our pipelines. Many pipeline operators have already taken advantage of widely available advanced leak detection technologies, and more operators would do the same under updated PHMSA standards. Using these new technologies and practices allows us to more accurately measure and control climate-damaging and health-hazardous pollution. What’s more, the continued expansion of the leak detection and methane mitigation industries will create more quality, good-paying jobs that strengthen our local communities and economies. 

Though we serve communities in very different parts of the country, both of our states feel the environmental, economic and health ramifications of methane pollution. From Pennsylvania to Wyoming and across the nation, our communities are alike in that they would all benefit from healthier air, safer pipelines and less methane entering the atmosphere. 

With a presidential election on the horizon, it’s more important than ever to finalize the rule now, as a change in administration could derail or further delay its progress. In the bipartisan Pipes Act of 2020, Congress directed PHMSA to establish standards for advanced leak detection and repair by December 2021. Our communities have waited long enough. The proposed rule allows PHMSA to meet its statutory obligation to protect people and the environment, and we urge Secretary Buttigieg to act now for the sake of Americans’ health and safety. 

Nikil Saval is a state senator representing the 1st Senatorial District in Pennsylvania. Pete Gosar is chair of the Albany County Commission in Wyoming. Both are contributors to Western Leaders and Appalachian Leaders Voices, which amplifies the opinions of tribal, local, and state elected leaders on conservation issues in the Interior West and the Ohio River Valley region.