TSA bill includes pipeline security provisions

Washington-The House of Representatives on June 4 passed an authorization bill (HR 2200) for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that includes provisions to enhance pipeline security. The bill, the first to authorize the agency’s activities since TSA was created in 2001, provides $15.6 billion in spending through fiscal 2011 to toughen aviation security, enhance surface transportation security, and provide training for TSP employees. The bill includes measures sponsored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) to improve pipeline safety by clarifying federal pipeline safety and security procedures and determining whether additional measures are necessary. A statement from Bilirakis referred to “multiple instances of individuals rupturing pipelines in the Tampa Bay area” over the past six years, noting specifically the November 2007 release of ammonia that resulted when a 16-year-old boy drilled into a section of the Tampa Bay Pipeline Corp. anhydrous pipeline in Riverview, Fla., near the Alafia River (GM Nov. 19, 2007). The 30-mile-long pipeline runs from Port Sutton in Tampa through Hillsborough County to Mosaic Co.’s New Wales phosphate processing plant, and the leak resulted in the evacuation of some 3,700 residents and forced the closure of two schools and several area roads. “The rupturing of pipelines in the Tampa Bay area in recent years should serve as a reminder that federal agencies must remain vigilant to ensure residents are not at risk,” Bilirakis said. “We must do all we can to make certain our nation’s pipeline infrastructure is protected from possible terrorist attacks as well as acts of vandalism.” The authorization bill also includes provisions to reduce multiple background checks and make Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) enrollment less time consuming. Back in 2006 (GM Aug. 14, 2006), The Fertilizer Institute voiced concerns to TSA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Coast Guard that certain elements of the TWIC program, including its enrollment process, would put a financial burden on TWIC applicants and on small fertilizer businesses.