Mike Mears, chairman of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, testified on behalf of AOPL and the American Petroleum Institute before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Highway, Transit and Pipelines. He said that the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 is widely recognized as a success, continues to improve safety performance, and it should be reauthorized for five more years.
 
“Under the act, the industry is making the investment and regulators are driving toward even stronger safety programs to improve performance,” said Mears, who is vice president of Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. “Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, a new awareness of the vital importance of a robust, reliable and secure pipeline system has developed in government, industry and the public.”

He said there is no urgent need for significant changes in the pipeline safety statutes, and he urged that regulators be granted funding levels that track with inflation. “What is needed is vigorous implementation of the 2002 Act, and this is happening,” Mears declared in his March 16 testimony.