page_title: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
section_title: Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS)
hierarchical_section_title: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration / Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS)
caption_attribution_description: English: Gas Transmission and Hazardous Liquid Pipelines in the United States, created November 2015 with data from September 17, 2015 National Pipeline Mapping System, by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), part of the United States Department of Transportation.
context_page_description: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the US's 2.6 million mile pipeline transportation. It is responsible for nearly 1 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air. It oversees the nation's pipeline infrastructure, which accounts for 64 percent of the energy commodities consumed in the United States. Made up of the Office of Pipeline Safety and the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety.
  PHMSA was created within the U.S. DOT under the Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act of 2004, which former United States President George W. Bush signed into law on November 30, 2004.
  Howard R. Elliott was sworn into office in October 2017, and is the current Administrator.
context_section_description: OPS oversees the 2.3 million miles of the natural gas pipeline system in the United States and its hazardous liquid pipelines.
  As of May 2014 about 80 percent of the funds states spend on pipeline safety comes from PHMSA.
  Several agencies collaborate on the 'federal pipeline safety program', authorized through the fiscal year ending September 30,
  2015 such as the Transportation Security Administration,the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
  The Pipeline Risk Management Information System (PRIMIS) consists of integrity management programs originally created for transmission pipelines and has led to a reduced amount of pipeline accidents.
  In 2001 the Liquid Integrity Management Program (LIMP)came into law, followed by the 2003 Transmission Integrity Management Program (TIMP) and the 2008 Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP).
  The 'Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act of 1996' requires that OPS adopt rules requiring interstate gas pipeline operators to provide maps of their facilities to the governing body of each municipality, in which the pipeline is located. The National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) was removed for a number of months from public use after September 11, due to security concerns. In 2012, it returned with restriction of use. National Pipeline Maps can still be bought from PennWell Corporation.
  As of 2014, OPS and PMHSA respectively, have not set minimum qualifications for state inspectors, who lead inspection teams. In one state, for example, an inspector with less than one year's experience was allowed to lead inspections.
caption: A map of pipelines in the United States as of September, 2015. Red is hazardous liquid pipelines, including crude oil.
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