The Department of Transportation's Pipeline Safety Program

GAO discussed the Department of Transportation's (DOT) administration of the federal pipeline safety program. GAO noted that: (1) states may assume responsibility for enforcing safety standards interstate pipelines located within their borders; and (2) DOT is responsible for enforcing and monitoring standards for those pipelines for which states do not assume responsibility. GAO found that: (1) there were 32 states that had assumed jurisdiction over some intrastate gas operators; (2) DOT has not provided adequate inspection coverage of pipeline operators; (3) DOT has not had enough inspectors to meet its goal of annual comprehensive inspections of all pipeline operators; and (4) some operators are only inspected once every 3 to 5 years, while other types of intrastate operators are only inspected when a complaint is received or an accident occurs. GAO also found that: (1) DOT has not adequately defined criteria to determine whether state inspectors are qualified; (2) annual monitoring visits should include more and better ways of evaluating a state agency's performance; (3) reviews of state inspection data have not been sufficient to detect data errors and inconsistencies; (4) DOT does not have adequate program authority and resources to carry out its current program responsibilities; (5) since state participation in the program is voluntary, DOT does not have viable means of requiring states to correct program deficiencies; and (6) even though a few states have expanded their gas pipeline safety inspection programs, 15 states experiencing staffing or funding constraints will reduce their inspection activities.