PIPELINE SAFETY: Progress Made, but Significant Requirements and Recommendations Not Yet Complete
Abstract
In May 2000, we reported on the performance of the Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) in regulating the safety of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines in the United States. 1 Among other things, we found that the number of major pipeline accidents (those resulting in a fatality, an injury, or property damage of $50,000 or more) increased by about 4 percent annually from 1989 through 1998 from about 190 in 1989 to about 280 in 1998. In addition, OPS had not implemented 22 statutory requirements and 39 recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (the Safety Board) that were designed to improve pipeline safety. Furthermore, a number of these requirements and recommendations were over a decade old. Concerned about the potential impact of OPS responsiveness on pipeline safety, you asked us to assess OPS progress in implementing these statutory requirements and Safety Board recommendations since May 2000.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA395105
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office