A Review Of The Pipeline Safety Regulatory Certainty And Job Creation Act Of 2011

" The nation's 2.5 million mile network of hazardous liquid and natural gas pipelines includes more than 400,000 miles of "transmission" pipelines, which transport products from processing facilities to communities and large-volume users. To minimize the risk of leaks and ruptures, PHMSA requires pipeline operators to develop incident response plans. Pipeline operators with pipelines in highly populated and environmentally sensitive areas ("high-consequence areas") are also required to consider installing automated valves. The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 directed GAO to examine the ability of transmission pipeline operators to respond to a product release. Accordingly, GAO examined (1) opportunities to improve the ability of transmission pipeline operators to respond to incidents and (2) the advantages and disadvantages of installing automated valves in high-consequence areas and ways that PHMSA can assist operators in deciding whether to install valves in these areas. GAO examined incident data; conducted a literature review; and interviewed selected operators, industry stakeholders, state pipeline safety offices, and PHMSA officials. "

This report reviews the history of federal programs for pipeline safety and security, key policy issues, and recent developments leading up to P.L. 112-90. Although the Act contains over 30 substantive sections, this report focuses only on a subset of provisions of key interest in recent congressional debate.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is increasingly viewed as one of the most significant ways of dealing with greenhouse gas emissions. Critical to realising its potential will be the design of effective legal regimes at national and international level that can handle the challenges raised but without stifling a new technology of potential great public benefit. These include: long-term liability for storage; regulation of transport; the treatment of stored carbon under emissions trading regimes; issues of property ownership; and, increasingly, the sensitivities of handling the public engagement and perception. Following its publication in 2011, Carbon Capture and Storage quickly became required reading for all those interested in, or engaged by, the need to implement regulatory approaches to CCS. The intervening years have seen significant developments globally. Earlier legislative models are now in force, providing important lessons for future legal design. Despite these developments, the growth of the technology has been slower in some jurisdictions than others. This timely new edition will update and critically assess these updates and provide context for the development of CCS in 2018 and beyond.