Government

Pipeline VOC Emission Limits Will be Finalized By Feb. 28; EPA Makes Changes To Pipeline GHG Reporting Rule

Natural gas transmission companies are very unhappy with the EPA's decision to tighten industry air emission limits. A consent decree signed by the EPA requires the agency to revise both New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the natural gas industry, including for pipelines, by the end of February.

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Obama Signs New Pipeline Safety Bill; PHMSA Starts Rulemaking On EFVs

The new pipeline safety bill President Obama signed in December gives PHMSA new latitude to expand integrity management requirements to new areas and require new industry safety measures such as automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves.

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EPA To Consider Shale Gas Wastewater Regulation

To no one's surprise, the Environmental Protection Agency announced in October that it will think about regulating shale gas wastewater. The Department of Energy's shale gas subcommittee - formed at the request of President Obama - provided the impetus to the EPA by noting the "fracking" chemicals contained in the water injected into shale rock formations and the contaminants that "flowback" to the surface both should be looked at more closely in case they are contaminating drinking water sources.

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Integrity Management Expansion Stirs Controversy In Congress

Two House committees are attempting to combine slightly different pipeline safety bills while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is preventing a Senate vote on a bill passed by the Commerce Committee in May. All three bills are moderate, and make changes around the edges of current law, both with regard to natural gas and oil pipelines.

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INGAA’s Edwards Keeps Watch On Capitol Hill

There are few Washington insiders who know more about energy legislation that Martin Edwards, Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA).

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Markey, Holt Push Legislation to Reduce Wasteful Natural Gas Flaring

Two House Democrats introduced legislation Oct. 14 targeted at the practice of excessively burning natural gas emanating from wells drilled for crude oil. A release on the topic of the legislation characterized the practice as "becoming increasingly prevalent in places like North Dakota, as recently reported in the New York Times, but could become more widespread without intervention."

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NTSB Recommendations On San Bruno Put Pressure On Congress And Obama Administration

The pipeline safety recommendations issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Aug. 30 puts significant pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to respond to problems discovered as part of the NTSB investigation of the PG&E San Bruno explosion in September 2010.

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INGAA Prefers House Pipeline Safety Bill; EPA Air Emission Proposal Would Affect Pipeline Compressors

The House pipeline safety bill introduced in July is similar in many ways to the Senate bill which the Commerce Committee passed in May. But there are differences, with the House bill, called the Pipeline Infrastructure and Community Protection Act of 2011, being the preferred option in the view of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA).

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NTSB faults PG&E and government oversight in San Bruno explosion

On August 30 the five-member National Transportation Safety Board announced that its nearly year-long investigation into the San Bruno pipeline explosion has determined that Pacific Gas & Electric's lax approach to pipeline safety and inadequate oversight from the California utility commission and PHMSA were the ultimate cause of the most devastating pipeline accident in a decade.

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House GOP Seek To Force State Department Action On Keystone XL; EPA Gives Ground On GHGs; 4G Wireless May Threaten GPS

A House committee voted out a bill 33-13 on June 15 which would force the State Department to decide on the Keystone XL pipeline, an expansion of an existing TransCanada pipeline which would bring oil from Alberta and North Dakota to U.S. refineries.

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