U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, the chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Infrastructure, Safety, and Security, called on the US federal government to improve the safety of homes across the country by completing a critical rule that requires excess flow valves (EFVs) to be installed on all new or replacement gas pipes that connect to single-family homes. The Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement and Safety (PIPES) Act, which was passed in 2006, included a provision that required PHMSA to complete the rule by the end of 2007 that would make the use of EFVs mandatory by 1 June 2008, which PHMSA has failed to meet. The EFV’s can automatically shut off a ruptured line, which will help prevent gas leaks. Furthermore, the bill also authorized more federal pipeline safety inspectors to inspect the country’s 2.3 million miles of natural gas, oil, and hazardous liquid pipelines, and created new regulations for the nation’s low-stress oil transmission pipelines.
