Maureen Lorenzetti
The US Congress faces an important challenge this year as it considers ways to keep nearly half a million miles of oil, natural gas and product pipelines safe and secure.
A Feb. 5 Congressional Research Service report distributed to lawmakers finds that industry and regulators generally feel collaborative efforts to promote US pipeline security are on track. US pipeline operators currently report no specific threats to their networks, but the nation's pipeline system is extensive and presents an inviting target, CRS said.
"US pipeline security necessarily involves many groups: federal agencies, oil and gas pipeline associations, large and small pipeline operators, and critical and noncritical asset owners," CRS said. "Reviewing how these groups work together to achieve common security goals could be an oversight challenge for Congress."
Overlap
Safety and security issues naturally overlap. And, given that federal oversight of pipeline security remains relatively new, US agencies still are sorting out responsibilities.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the lead federal agency pipeline operators turn to regarding security. TSA's jurisdiction includes security reviews, risk assessment, and inspections. The Office of Pipeline Safety, in the Department of Transportation, remains the primary federal agency for safety.
The two agencies currently have no formal agreement defining responsibilities; they told CRS they do not need one now. But industry still holds lingering concerns about potentially redundant, conflicting regimes under TSA and OPS.
Policy and budget issues
TSA's current funding for pipeline security will provide "only limited capability for inspections and enforcement of any future regulations," CRS said. Additionally, the White House's latest budget request for fiscal 2005 does not include a line item for TSA's pipeline activities; industry-specific security would be funded from the general operating budget.
But is more money necessarily better?
CRS said OPS and TSA face resource limitations across the board; there are other priorities besides pipeline security concerns. Furthermore, most security experts believe that pipelines already are safer and more secure than most other critical infrastructures.
"While the pipeline industry continues to face challenges protecting its assets, many analysts believe that more-urgent security challenges lie elsewhere," CRS said.
Even if it agrees with the White House's budget, Congress may still want to visit industry policy concerns.
Pipeline operators told CRS they need more specific federal threat information to improve security decisions. Operators want "clear and stable" definitions of what constitutes a "critical" asset.
"Congress may wish to assess how the various elements of US pipeline security activity fit together in the nation's overall strategy to protect critical infrastructure," CRS said.
CRS noted that increasing the number of pipeline security inspections by TSA could be of limited value if asset "criticality" is not clearly defined. "Likewise, diverting pipeline resources away from safety to enhance security might further reduce terror risk, but not overall pipeline risk, if safety programs become less effective as a result."
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