So much is resting on the reliability of natural gas pipelines, we cannot help but be concerned that the cyber and physical security requirements under the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are voluntary, not mandatory. This is in stark contrast to the electric grid where the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has set mandatory standards that are enforced to secure the reliability of the nation’s electric grid. Natural gas pipelines are the weak link in U.S. national energy security.
TSA has the authority to promulgate mandatory security regulations and has not done so, and the voluntary standards are not enforced. News reports cite that the TSA has only six full-time people assigned to oversee over 300,000 miles of natural gas pipeline. These statistics do not give us confidence that there is adequate security.
For these reasons, we encourage the Senate and House Committees of jurisdiction to conduct an oversight hearing on this matter and, if necessary, take appropriate action to ensure that Congress has done all that is reasonable and cost-effective to ensure the security of natural gas pipelines.
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