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The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a
United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...
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 Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...
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, which then-United States President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
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.


History

Prior to 2005 the U.S. Department of Transportation had no focused research organization and no separately operating administration for pipeline safety and
hazardous material Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...
s
transportation safety in the United States Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including Traffic collision, automobile crashes, Aviation accidents and incidents, airplane crashes, Train wreck, rail crashes, and other m ...
. 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. 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.


Office of Hazardous Materials Safety

The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety is responsible for the oversight of the safe transportation of
hazardous materials Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...
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 Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...
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.


Office of Pipeline Safety

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. 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. 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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, At ...
;
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
;
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
;
Lakewood, Colorado Lakewood is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 15 ...
;
Des Plaines, Illinois Des Plaines () is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situat ...
;
Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, it lies ...
; and
Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...
. PHMSA also operates a national training center and accident investigation office located in
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
. In 2022, the PMHSA admitted that CO2 pipelines were underregulated and announced "new measures to strengthen its safety oversight".


Leadership

Howard McMillan serves as the Executive Director of PHMSA. The current leadership team includes: Past leadership includes *
Brigham McCown Brigham A. McCown (born July 3, 1966, in Ironton, Ohio, Ironton, Ohio) is a Business Executive and former U.S. Government Senior Official. He is currently a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute in Washington, DC and Clinical Professorat Miami Un ...
, first acting administrator from July 1, 2005 - March 31, 2006 and first Deputy Administrator, July 1, 2005 until January 1, 2007. * Thomas J. Barrett, first permanent Administrator from March 31, 2006 - June 1, 2007. * Stacey Gerard, first Assistant Administrator/Chief Safety Officer, first acting Deputy Administrator until July 1, 2005. * Krista Edwards, Chief Counsel in 2006, Deputy Administrator, acting Administrator from 2007 to January 9, 2008. * Carl T. Johnson, Administrator from January 9, 2008 until 2009. * Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator from November 16, 2009 - October 4, 2014 *Timothy Butters, acting Administrator from October 4, 2014 - June 8, 2015 *Marie Therese Dominguez, Administrator from October 7, 2015 - January 20, 2017 * Howard R. Elliott, Administrator from October 30, 2017 - January 20, 2021 *Tristan Brown, Deputy Administrator, acting Administrator January 20, 2021 - January 20, 2025 * Howard "Mac" McMillan, Executive Director, acting Administrator January 20, 2025 - January 30, 2025 * Ben Kochman, Deputy Administrator, Acting Administrator January 30, 2025 - Present


See also

* List of North American natural gas pipelines * List of pipeline accidents in the United States in the 21st century * Weld monitoring, testing and analysis * Robotic Non-Destructive Testing * Intelligent pigging * Emergency Response Guidebook


Notes


References


External links

*
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
in the
Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the government gazette, official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every wee ...

PHMSA Public Map Viewer
- Application enables the user to view the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) data one county at a time. The user may zoom in to a map scale of 1:24,000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pipeline And Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Energy in the United States United States Department of Transportation agencies 2004 establishments in the United States Government agencies established in 2004 Oil pipelines in the United States Natural gas safety Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety