WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, convened a hearing today to examine pipeline safety. The hearing, titled “Oversight of Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 and Related Issues” focused on pipeline safety issues raised by recent pipeline failures, and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) implementation of the bipartisan 2011 pipeline safety legislation that was signed into law by President Obama. The law, spearheaded by Upton and former Michigan Rep. John Dingell, contains numerous provisions designed to reduce the likelihood of similar pipeline spills and minimize the impact of those that do occur. However, PHMSA has failed to implement more than one-third of the law’s requirements despite mandatory deadlines.

Click here to watch Upton’s opening statement

Click here to watch Upton question PHMSA Interim Executive Director Stacy Cummings

The hearing was particularly timely in light of the Michigan Departments of Attorney General and Environmental Quality issuing a report on Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Task Force.

“I look forward to reading the Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Task Force Report and I commend Michigan officials for their commitment to pipeline safety,” said Upton, who also chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee. “We have a responsibility to ensure that our energy is transported safely and efficiently. Our committee has a long, bipartisan history of pipeline safety issues, including the passage of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, which was a bipartisan piece of legislation I worked on closely with my friend John Dingell. It is much, much better to be in a position to prevent incidents before they happen rather than to respond after they occur and that is our focus.”

The committee had recently sent two bipartisan letters related to pipeline safety. The first was sent to PHMSA and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requesting an update on the status of key pipeline safety reforms. The second was sent to Plains Pipeline requesting documents on the company’s maintenance and integrity operations.