AOPL Welcomes New PHMSA Administrator Skip Elliott

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Contact: John Stoody 202-292-4509 [email protected] http://www.aopl.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 30, 2017

AOPL Welcomes New PHMSA Administrator Skip Elliott WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL) welcomed the swearing in today of Howard “Skip” Elliott as the new Administrator of the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). “AOPL looks forward to working with the new PHMSA administrator to keep pipelines the safest way to transport energy,” said Andy Black, AOPL President and CEO. Pipeline operators who are members of AOPL and the American Petroleum Institute are working together on a number of safety improvement efforts springing out of lessons learned and recommendations from PHMSA advisory bulletins and initiatives. Pipeline operators worked together with PHMSA, state pipeline regulators and expert members of the public to develop a holistic pipeline safety management program recommended by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). NTSB later commended the pipeline industry’s work with PHMSA developing the new pipeline safety management program as exceeding its recommendation. Pipeline operators are also actively participating in PHMSA’s Voluntary Information Sharing System (VIS) Working Group with members of the public, labor and environmental groups and its Liquids Pipeline Advisory Committee (LPAC) similarly with expert members of the public, pipeline operators and state and local regulators. Both the VIS and LPAC efforts are authorized by Congress. AOPL looks forward to continuing efforts to work with PHMSA and Administrator Elliott on pipeline safety improvement efforts. ####