Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) 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' 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.

Cynthia L. Quarterman, an attorney and former government official, became the third Administrator in November 2009. She resigned in October 2014.

The PHMSA enforces the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968(P.L. 90-481), which was enacted in response to the Richmond, Indiana, explosion, as well as the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Act of 1979 (P.L. 96-129), the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Safety and Enforcement Act (PIPES) Act of 2006, the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (P.L. 112), regulations (49 CFR Parts 190-199) and other statutes.

Prior to 2005 the U.S. Department of Transportation had no focused research organization and no separately operating administration for pipeline safety and hazardous materials transportation safety. The Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act of 2004 provided these, with an opportunity to establish mode government budget and information practices in support of then president Bush's 'Management Agenda' initiatives.

OHMS oversees the transportation of hazardous materials by air, rail, highway, and water, with the exception of bulk transportation of hazmat by vessel. OHMS promulgates a national safety program, which consists of: evaluating safety risks, developing and enforcing standards for transporting hazardous materials, educating shippers and carriers, investigating hazmat incidents and failures, conducting research, providing grants to improve emergency response to incidents.

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