Are all new safety regulations bad?
September 30, 2011 by Fred HosierPosted in: Analysis/Commentary, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, New rules and regulations, What do you think?, fire/explosion
Just one U.S. senator is blocking a bill that would strengthen safety rules for oil and gas pipelines. The senator isn’t opposed to any particular part of the bill; he simply doesn’t like any additional federal regulation at all.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has placed a hold on the bill, which makes it more difficult for the Senate to consider it.
The measure would authorize more federal safety inspectors, and pipeline companies would have to confirm that their records on how much pressure their pipelines can tolerate are accurate.
The pressure issue is key. The National Transportation Safety Board just released the results of its investigation into the Sept. 9, 2010, gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people, injured dozens more, and destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes in San Bruno, CA.
The report says Pacific Gas & Electric Co. records incorrectly described the section of pipe that ruptured as being seamless rather than welded. That led the company to place a maximum gas pressure limit on the line that was too high for it to withstand.
Paul’s action comes despite sound support for the bill among industry and in his home state.
The bill has support from major trade associations, including the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the American Gas Association and the Association of Oil Pipelines. The Pipeline Safety Trust also supports it.
The president of Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline of Owensboro, KY, has also voiced his support for the bill and spoke to Paul about it.
Industry actually wants Congress to pass the bill. Why? If it doesn’t, regulators within the Obama administration will be free to create new pipeline safety regulations as they want to.
And up to this point, it looked like Congress was on a path to approve the measure. Similar bills were approved by committees in the Senate and House without a single no vote.
Paul is considered a key leader in the Tea Party movement that supports less federal regulation for businesses. Despite his hold on the bill, so far he hasn’t been willing to discuss the situation with the media.
Do you think there should be an absolute freeze on all new safety regulations because of the struggling economy? What do you think about Paul’s position on this matter? Let us know in the comments below.
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Tags: less federal regulation, National Transportation Safety Board, new safety regulations, Pacific Gas & Electric, pipeline safety bill, San Bruno pipeline explosion, Sen. Rand Paul, Tea Party
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September 30th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
1. The pipe was 50 years old.
2. The company failed to conduct proper pressure tests or visual inspections of the pipeline.
3. Weak oversight by regulators.
Sounds to me like new regulations will simply cost alot for little to no impact. The report flat out calls the company inept and hammers the regulators as well. Sounds to me like current regulations and holding regulators accountable is the proper thing to do.
If there is “weak oversight by regulators” already, how can anyone justify additional regulation? Giving inept regulators more tools does not solve problems, it just makes them more inept.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:35 am
The new regulation, as described here, makes sense. All regulations deserve to be periodically reviewed and updated for applicability in a changing world. Nothing should be frozen. And, across the board, there need to be more regulators. Compliance with laws and regulations is in direct proportion to the odds of being caught.
October 4th, 2011 at 10:34 am
I dont care who or which side they stand on. Anybody who is against more and bigger federal involvement has my vote. Its simple, federal government needs a major downsizing then local county and state government will have no choice but to step it up to protect it’s taxpayers and workers. Im all for what you are trying to do (and hopefully someday it will work) Mr. Paul. Sacrifice “a little” now and save the American people “a whole lot” tomorrow.
Safety at all costs…except for the cost of our freedom.
We are free today…will you and your future generations be free tomorrow?
October 4th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Can you say “In the pocket of the oil companies?” Can you say “Corruption”? Can you say “Anyone who believes anything any politician says, no matter what party they represent is an idiot”? I knew you could.
October 4th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Self regulation hasn’t worked. There have been several blowouts in the past year and the pipelines are aging. The increased costs of regulation are insignificant compared to being dead or having your neighbrhood blown up due to failing gas lines. Gas pipelines criss cross populated areas throughtout the country. Would you want to live near one if you knew your family could be blown up at any time? This is one place where we must have good regulations. Industry supports these changes, get it done!!
October 4th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Can you say fiscal and personal responsibility? I knew you could.
October 4th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
So shift the gov’t and industry oversight from an economy of scale and single standards to a patchwork of 50 variations. Seems like the goal is not to reduce, but localize and reinvent at larger scales, or allow folks to simply abdicate on standards that try to make business safe/fair for EVERYONE and not just the profit takers.
I’m all about efficiency, but I suspect the very reasons the Feds took over for states unwilling to confront local good ol’ boy networks will just be reproven. As it is, our challenge is going to be to get the rest of the world to try and meet our standards, not lower ours to the lowest common denominator of greed.
In this instance, specifically, pipelines cross state boundaries, ergo require national or international standards of the HIGHEST order, not negotiated compromizes for profitability. That, or only the people who believe it should be under regulated must live above and near such pipelines…
If we can’t do something right for almost everyone, perhaps we really shouldn’t do it.
Freedom based on ‘my need is greater than yours, so I get to do it’ is not freedom at all. It’s bullying.
Since Safety is all about submitting to best for all criteria, Freedom is not the appropriate ‘out’.
October 4th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Dead people can’t say anything and they don’t care about responsibility and accountablity. The cost to install and maintain good systems is small compared to the costs of continually blowing neighborhoods and businesses. A single set of standards and practices is more efficient. Idealogies about accountability and personal responsibility are absurd to a parent holding a shattered child or a parent disabled by a gas explosion.
October 4th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
When I read the comment “sacrifice ‘a little’ now and save the American people a whole lot tomorrow,” I’m reminded of how much the people who died or were hurt in the pipeline exlosion “sacrificed” so we could all see how dangerous our complacency can be. Why would all the major players in the gas industry agree to the safety practices in the new bill? Because they’re nothing new! Those folks already knew they should be doing them. I guess they were just waiting for a real good reason to HAVE to do them!
Not everyone is gonna “do the right thing”- that’s human nature. So, we’ll continue to need oversight - from all of us. So that industry does what it knows it should, and regulators do their job right. When we’re so focused on our own bottom line, or agenda, or ideology, or living a life free of restrictions, it’s easy to forget that we’re also here to serve the greater good.