Headquarters of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration | |
Department overview | |
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Formed | July 1, 2004 |
Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
Headquarters | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20590 38°52′32.92″N77°0′10.26″W / 38.8758111°N 77.0028500°W |
Employees | 500 (approx.) (Nov. 2017) |
Annual budget | $244.5 million USD (FY2015, enacted) [1] |
Department executives |
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Parent department | United States Department of Transportation |
Child agencies |
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Website | phmsa |
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound transportation of energy and other hazardous materials. It is in charge of overseeing about 3.4 million miles of pipelines - accounting for 65% of the energy consumed in the U.S. - and regulating the nearly 1 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air. This includes pipelines carrying carbon dioxide Carbon capture and utilization). PHMSA's safety programs are housed in the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) and the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS). PHMSA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
PHMSA was created within the U.S. Department of Transportation under the Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act of 2004, [3] which then-United States President George W. Bush signed into law on November 30, 2004. Its mission is to protect people and the environment by advancing the safe transportation of energy and other hazardous materials that are essential to the people's daily lives. [4]
Prior to 2005 the U.S. Department of Transportation had no focused research organization and no separately operating administration for pipeline safety and hazardous materials transportation safety in the United States. The Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act of 2004 provided these, with an opportunity to establish mode government budget and information practices in support of then president George Bush's "Management Agenda" initiatives. [5] Prior to the Special Programs Act of 2004, PHMSA's hazmat and pipeline safety programs were housed within the Transportation Department's Research and Special Programs Administration, known as RSPA. [6]
The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety is responsible for the oversight of the safe transportation of hazardous materials by air, rail, highway, and vessel. More than 3.3 billion tons of hazardous materials valued at more than $1.9 trillion are transported annually by air, highway, rail, and vessel across the United States. On average, more than 1.2 million hazardous materials shipments occur every day. This includes everything from nuclear waste to lithium-ion batteries, to explosives used in excavation, mining, and energy production. The program establishes policy, standards and regulations for classifying, packaging, hazard communication, handling, training and transporting hazardous materials via air, highway, rail and vessel. The program uses inspection, enforcement, outreach and incident analysis in efforts to reduce incidents, minimize fatalities and injuries, mitigate the consequences of incidents that occur, train and prepare first responders, and enhance safety. [7]
As of 2022, the Office of Pipeline Safety regulated an expansive network of about 3.4 million miles of natural gas pipeline system in the United States and its hazardous liquid pipelines. [8] [9] This includes 229,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines, 302,000 miles of gas transmission pipelines, 2,284,000 miles of gas distribution mains and services, and 17,000 miles of gas-gathering pipelines. [10] PHMSA’s pipeline safety program promotes the safe delivery of energy products to market in a manner that protects people, property, and the environment.
The Office of Pipeline Safety is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with eight field offices located in West Trenton, New Jersey; Atlanta, GA; Kansas City, Missouri; Houston, Texas; Lakewood, Colorado; Des Plaines, Illinois; Ontario, California; and Anchorage, Alaska. PHMSA also operates a national training center and accident investigation office located in Oklahoma City.
In 2022, the PMHSA admitted that CO2 pipelines were underregulated and announced "new measures to strengthen its safety oversight". [11]
Tristan Brown serves as the Deputy Administrator of PHMSA. The current leadership team includes:
Name | Position | Sworn in |
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Tristan Brown | Deputy Administrator | 2021 |
Past leadership includes
The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) is a unit of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). It was created in 2005 to advance transportation science, technology, and analysis, as well as improve the coordination of transportation research within the department and throughout the transportation community.
The Calnev Pipeline is a 550-mile (890 km) long buried refined oil products pipeline in the United States, owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. The pipeline consists of two parallel lines, the larger, has a diameter of 14 inches (360 mm) and the smaller one has a diameter of 8 inches (200 mm). The lines carry gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel fuel from Los Angeles, California refineries as far as Nellis Air Force Base south of North Las Vegas, Nevada. It carries approximately 128,000 barrels per day (20,400 m3/d). Jet fuel from the pipeline is also delivered to the Harry Reid International Airport tank farm in Paradise. Additional terminal facilities are located in Barstow, California.
Kinder Morgan, Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. The company specializes in owning and controlling oil and gas pipelines and terminals.
Brigham A. McCown is a former member of the U.S. Senior Executive Service at the United States Department of Transportation. He served as chief executive of (2020-2022) the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company which designed, built, operates, and maintains the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Following retirement from federal service, he worked as an attorney, consultant, and was a Clinical Professor at Miami University.
Thomas J. Barrett is a former United States Coast Guard officer and former Deputy Secretary of Transportation from 2007 until 2009.
The US natural gas pipeline system is a complex system of pipelines that carries natural gas nationwide and for import and export for use by millions of people daily for their consumer and commercial needs. Across the country, there are more than 210 pipeline systems that total more than 305,000 miles of interstate and intrastate pipelines.
Cynthia L. Quarterman is an American lawyer and engineer, former Director of the Minerals Management Service and Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration from 2009 until her resignation on October 4, 2014.
Howard R. "Skip" Elliott is an American government official who served as the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration from 2017 to 2021.