During a House Energy Committee hearing before the Congressional Recess, Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) asked President and Chief Executive Officer of the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association Andrew Black about confidence in pipeline safety.
00:00Chair now recognizes the chairman of the full committee for five minutes for questions.
00:04Thanks, Mr. Chair, and sorry for popping up and down.
00:06We have another hearing going on downstairs.
00:08So, Mr. Black, I'll first ask you, how does PHMSA enforce, how does PHMSA enforcement act as a deterrent to unsafe operations?
00:20We are glad that this PHMSA has said that its top enforcement priority is pipeline safety, not other topics.
00:27And our country needs confidence in our pipeline network and in our pipeline safety oversight.
00:34Enforcement acts as a deterrent against unsafe operations, and so pipeline operators are expecting that PHMSA is enforcing pipeline safety rules for the betterment of safety.
00:44Because we need confidence.
00:46Because I've had in my area, I know if you look at a map of pipelines, people would be just shocked how many pipelines we have.
00:52But whenever there's a new movement forward, there's always a big public relations campaign against a pipeline about safety.
00:58So we need confidence in it so people will know.
01:00And then you'll tell people, you know, there are pipelines everywhere, and they don't realize that.
01:04But that's kind of become a new thing to keep us from moving energy around is that people are pipelines.
01:10And we absolutely want them to be safe, and people have confidence in that.
01:14So, Ms. Miller, when PHMSA rulemakings go beyond the appropriate or statutory mandated scope, how does that impact an operator's ability to prioritize safety?
01:23Thank you for the question, Chairman Guthrie.
01:25Operators will comply with PHMSA's regulations.
01:28And so when PHMSA's rules regulate matters other than to achieve safety priorities, that means that resources that alternatively could have been devoted to those safety priorities are spent in other ways.
01:40And this issue is not only relevant to the operators, but it's also relevant to PHMSA resources.
01:46We appreciate that Congress mandates PHMSA's scope of responsibility.
01:51And that the 2004 authorizing statute for PHMSA made clear that safety was to be its highest priority.
01:59And we welcome, to the extent that there's any ambiguity about that priority, that Congress can reaffirm PHMSA's focus on safety.
02:08Mr. Moriarty, what are the barriers to addressing the remaining distribution lines that need to be upgraded?
02:16Thank you very much.
02:18Thank you very much, Chairman Guthrie, for the question.
02:21In our view, pipeline infrastructure is the safest means for transporting energy, and more must be built to meet the growing demand.
02:31Just one example is our Ohio subsidiary worked very closely with AEP to build, it's called Aspire Energy Express, to construct a new intrastate pipeline in central Ohio to support an on-site electric power generation at a new fuel facility center serving a data center.
02:51We continue to work on solutions to these problems.
02:54We work closely with our elected representatives and each of our regulatory agencies to address concerns.
03:01In our view, everybody is welcome to the table to raise any issues they have, but what we're asking for is just prompt, fair, and balanced consideration, and then issuance of regulations so that we all can comply with those.
03:17Okay, thank you.
03:18So, Mr. Blyarty, how can pipeline operators use AI and other technologies like smart pigs to improve safety throughout their operations?
03:28The smart pigs?
03:30Yeah.
03:33Explain a smart pig.
03:34Explain a smart pig as well.
03:41A smart pig is a pipeline inspection device that travels on the inside of a pipeline pushed by the liquid product collecting information, collects terabytes of data about the inside of a pipeline.
03:52So, AI could use, could be used to process that information to help identify more issues before they become problems.
04:03Similarly, pipeline operations have pumps, valves, and sensors along the long linear pipeline, and that creates operations data that AI and machine learning might help us find a pinhole leak that those sensors otherwise can't develop.
04:18And so, support for R&D among the pipeline industry at places like the Pipeline Research Council International is happening right now by Pipelines to try and benefit from AI.
04:29The way Congress can help is to reauthorize the Pipeline Safety Technology Demonstration Program that Chairman Latta asked me about that will help us test those technologies and show PHMSA how it should safely improve its regulations to benefit safety.
04:43Mr. Miller, do you also agree that this AI or technology, if you find leaks that are otherwise too small to be detected, how would that improve safety?
04:54Yes, I would echo what Mr. Black just highlighted.
04:59Our members are using AI today to be able to sort through large quantities of data to be able to identify trends and solve operational challenges.
05:08We believe that AI can inform risk assessment to help operators identify and repair, I'm sorry, identify and manage first pipeline anomalies before they become leaks, and then also prioritize repairs in order to address those that pose the highest risk first.
05:26We would encourage-
05:27My time's expired.
05:28He's about to gavel me down.
05:29Thank you for your answer, and I'll yield back.
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