Corbett Signs Pipeline Measure Into Law

Kim Payn­ter / Newsworks/WHYY

A pipeline con­struc­tion site in Susque­hanna County, Pa.

Gov­er­nor Cor­bett has signed a bill into law giv­ing Pennsylvania’s Pub­lic Util­ity Com­mis­sion the power to enforce fed­eral pipeline safety laws. The leg­is­la­tion will add a bit more over­sight to gath­er­ing lines, which bring nat­ural gas from drilling sites to com­pres­sor stations.

Penn­syl­va­nia was one of a hand­ful of states where reg­u­la­tors were not empow­ered to enforce the fed­eral standards.

More from the Tribune-Review:

The law would not apply to lines in the most rural areas, known as Class 1 lines. [House Repub­li­can spon­sor Matt] Baker pre­dicts fed­eral rules could be strength­ened within the next two to three years to require them to be inspected as well.

Baker said the PUC will need to hire 12 to 15 new inspec­tors, though Kocher said the num­ber fig­ures to be lower at the start. The agency has eight inspec­tors today. It’s unknown how much that might inflate the agency’s bottom-line costs, but Kocher said assess­ment fees and fed­eral fund­ing will defray at least some of the added costs.

To learn more about Pennsylvania’s rel­a­tively lax pipeline over­sight, read our pipeline primer.