PHMSA Voluntary Information Sharing

Full Title:
PHMSA Voluntary Information Sharing Act

Summary#

This bill would add a new section to federal pipeline law to create a Voluntary Information-Sharing system (VIS) run by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The VIS would be a confidential, nonpunitive place for people and organizations to submit pipeline safety data and lessons learned so experts can analyze risks and share fixes. The law sets up a 15-member Governing Board, a Program Manager (the PHMSA Administrator or designee), one or more Issue Analysis Teams, and a Third-Party Data Manager to collect, de-identify, store, and analyze data. The Governing Board must be formed within 180 days and the VIS within 1 year of enactment. Board members come from Federal/State agencies, the pipeline industry, and public safety advocacy groups. The bill says the VIS should follow a 2016 recommendation report and that the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) does not apply to the VIS or its boards.

The bill makes VIS data confidential and generally protected from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. VIS data generally cannot be used as evidence or obtained in civil or criminal litigation or enforcement actions, with specific exceptions (for example, evidence of a criminal violation, information not related to the VIS purpose, or information required to be reported under specific safety regulations). The Governing Board may approve the release of de-identified information and must publish certain public reports and an annual status report to Congress. The Secretary is directed to explore sustainable funding sources and may collect up to $5,000,000 per year under an existing fee authority for fiscal years 2024 through 2027 to establish and run the VIS.

What it means for you#

  • Participation is voluntary. No one is required to submit data to the VIS.
  • An operator's data will not be accepted into the VIS unless the operator authorizes it.
  • The VIS invites many participants, including pipeline operators, employees, labor unions, contractors, inspection service providers, manufacturers, researchers, State and Tribal agencies, and public interest groups.
  • Data submitted to the VIS will be kept confidential and generally exempt from FOIA requests and discovery in litigation, except in the limited situations the bill lists (for example, criminal evidence or required incident reports).
  • State and Federal reporting requirements still apply; the VIS does not replace required incident or safety reports.
  • The VIS will produce de-identified lessons learned and reports the Governing Board approves for public release.

Expenses#

  • The Secretary must explore sustainable funding sources, including public-private partnerships.
  • The bill allows the Secretary to collect an additional $5,000,000 under section 60301 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027, in addition to fees already authorized under that section, to establish and manage the VIS.
  • No other cost estimates or budget details are provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.