News

• Hunton & Williams LLP Tops Chambers USA 2010 Rankings, June 16, 2010
• Hunton & Williams LLP's Charles D. Case Reappointed to the N.C. Chamber's Environmental Concerns Policy Committee, March 30, 2010
• Seventeen Hunton & Williams Attorneys Selected as 'Georgia Super Lawyers' and 'Georgia Rising Stars', April 20, 2009

Articles & Speeches

• "Pipeline Integrity Programs," AOPL Annual Business Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Bob Hogfoss & Catherine Little, September 17, 2010
• "Environmental Issues," AOPL Annual Business Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Bob Hogfoss, Catherine Little & Annie Mackay, September 17, 2010
• "Developing Trends in Audits," AOPL Annual Business Conference Breakfast Roundtable in Atlanta, Georgia, Bob Hogfoss & Catherine Little, September 15, 2010
• Critical Infrastructure Resilience: Final Report and Recommendations, National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Department of Homeland Security, Evan Wolff, Study Group Member, Sept. 8, 2009
• Best Time To Invest in Building Pipelines Might Be the Next Few Years, Pipeline & Gas Journal, by Robert E. Hogfoss and Catherine D. Little, February 2009

Archived Alerts

• December 7, 2011 - House agreement reached on HR 2845 Amendment. On December 7, 2011, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, working with the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate, reached an agreement regarding an amendment to HR 2845, "The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011." Most notably, the amendment would require verification of MAOP for all transmission lines located in class locations 3 and 4 and class location 1 and 2 HCAs, regardless of the date of construction. Click here to for a copy of the bill.
• December 2, 2011- House introduces North American Energy Access Act. Republican Congressman Lee Terry of Nebraska introduced HR 3548. that would, among other things, transfer to the decision to review the Keystone XL project to FERC. In addition, FERC would be required to make a decision approving or denying the project within 30 days based on the Final EIS issued in August of 2011. FERC would also be required to develop a MOU with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to incorporate the State's siting review of Keystone XL. Click here for a copy of the bill. 
• October 17, 2011- S. 275 Passed in Senate: The Senate passed S. 275 by unanimous consent as amended by Senator Rand Paul who previously opposed the bill and blocked its consideration on the Senate floor for several months. S. Amdt.784 amended S. 275 to require DOT to issue regulations within 18 months of enactment of the bill that require testing to confirm the material strength of previously untested natural gas transmission lines located in HCAs and operating at more than 30% SMYS. Click here to view the amended bill passed by the Senate. The House continues to work on combining HR 2845 and HR 2937 before moving a measure to the House floor for a vote. September 22, 2011 - HR 2937 Amended and Passed in Committee: The House Energy and Commerce Committee took up HR 2937, Pipeline Infrastructure and Community Protection Act of 2011. Click here to view the amended bill. HR 2937 will then have to be reconciled with HR 2845.
• September 8, 2011 - HR 2845 Amended by Voice Vote: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee amended and approved HR 2845, The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 by voice vote. This bill appears to impose a less prescriptive approach to pipeline safety regulations and is more favored by industry. Click here to view this bill.  Click here to view the amendments adopted by voice vote and withdrawn. 
• August 30, 2011 - NTSB reports on findings and recommendations regarding San Bruno Incident: The NTSB held a hearing and issued a synopsis of its investigation into the San Bruno rupture that occurred on September 9, 2010, including 28 findings and 29 new recommendations directed to DOT, PHMSA, CPUC, and PGE. The NTSB is currently making final revisions to its report. Click here to view the synopsis and summary, and click here for the full final report.
• August 25, 2011 - PHMSA Publishes ANPRM Regarding Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines: PHMSA announced that it is seeking information on whether or not to propose new safety requirements for gas transmission pipelines. In particular, PHMSA is considering whether integrity management requirements should be revised and expanded, including adding more prescriptive language in some areas, and whether other issues related to system integrity should be addressed by strengthening or expanding non-integrity management requirements. Click here to view the ANPRM.
• August 2, 2011 - Clean Rivers Act of 2011: Senators Baucus and Tester introduced the Clean Rivers Act of 2011 to address perceived gaps in pipeline safety and transparency as a result of the Yellowstone incident. This bill proposes to require PHMSA to review river pipeline crossing regulations and revise them, boost leak detection standards, and update spill response plans. Click here to view the proposed legislation that was read and referred to Committee.
• July 21, 2011 - PHMSA Public Meeting on Recordkeeping and Risk Assessment: PHMSA held a public meeting on July 21, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia on "Improving Risk Assessment and Recordkeeping" due to recent pipeline incidents involving gaps in data and recordkeeping that have resulted in an increased focus on improving risk assessments. Click here to view a webcast of the event. 
• July 20, 2011 - Senate Pipeline Safety Hearing on Silvertip Release: The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure held an oversight hearing on July 20, 2011 regarding the Silvertip Pipeline release in Yellowstone County, Montana. Click here to view the archived webcast. 
  Pipeline Safety Hearing: The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a pipeline safety oversight hearing on June 16, 2011, focusing on Pipeline Safety Act reauthorization issues. The Subcommittee and witnesses generally indicated favorable support for Senate bill 275, Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2011 (Lautenberg-Rockefeller), and the Subcommittee is expected to issue its draft reauthorization bill in June. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is also expected to be active soon. Notably, Carl Weimer with the Pipeline Safety Trust is advocating stronger regulation of all pipelines, including gathering lines, and a tougher stance on pipeline damage prevention. Click here for an archived webcast and to access witness testimony.
• Final Control Room Management Rule: Published on June 16, 2011, PHMSA's final rule seeks to expedite the program implementation deadlines from those originally proposed. The deadline for operators to implement procedures regarding shift changes, roles and responsibilities, change management, operating experience, and fatigue mitigation is now October 1, 2011, sixteen months earlier than what was published in the proposed rule. The deadline for other procedures, including maximum hours-of-service and alarm management, is now August 1, 2012. Click here for the final rule.
• CFATS Hearing Markup:  On June 22, 2011, the House Homeland Security Committee is expected to conduct a mark-up of HR 901, the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Security (CFATS) Authorization Act of 2011. HR 901 would reauthorize the CFATS program through FY 2018 without burdensome mandates of so-called "inherently safer technology" (IST). Click here for more information.
• September 16, 2010: Sentencing Changes Under Way for Corporations — Ethics and Compliance Programs Are Key
  Proposed amendments to the United States Sentencing Guidelines, effective November 1, 2010 unless Congress intervenes, potentially offer more incentives to corporations who may be involved in criminal proceedings provided they have an "effective" compliance and ethics program while requiring adherence to more strict requirements for a corporation's compliance and ethics program.
• September 14, 2010: Europe's Highest Court Reconfirms Limitations of Legal Privilege in the European Union
  Europe's highest court ruled that communications between a company and its in-house counsel are not protected by legal privilege (reasoning that an in-house counsel's role as an employee negates the independence associated with a lawyer's obligations).  This ruling is significant for any company doing business in Europe and serves as a reminder to in-house counsel of companies doing business in the United States to keep their roles of lawyer and employee distinct and separate.
• August 23, 2010: Comments due to PHMSA on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Low-Stress Liquid Pipelines
  On June 22, 2010, PHMSA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks to amend existing pipeline safety regulations at 49 C.F.R. Part 195 to make them applicable to all low-stress hazardous liquid pipelines. Comments are due on August 23, 2010. See 75 Fed. Reg. 35366.
• July 30, 2010:  Representative Schauer introduces HR 6008, the Corporate Liability and Emergency Accident Notification (CLEAN) Act, to require oil and gas pipeline operators to notify DOT and the NRC "not later than one hour" following the discovery of a release, among other changes.
• July 28, 2010: Part 194 Updated Spill Response Plans Due to PHMSA
  On June 28, 2010, in response to the Gulf oil spill, PHMSA issued an Advisory Bulletin to all liquid pipeline operators, requring operators to review and, if necessary, revise and update their spill response plans. Such plans are required under 49 C.F.R. Part 194 (DOT's implementation of OPA-90 spill response requirements). PHMSA notes that in addition to submitting updated plans to the Agency, copies of plans must be maintained at field facilities, and it is expected that PHMSA will ask for them during audits. See 75 Fed. Reg. 36773
• July 20, 2010: Homeland Security Alert for Malicious SCADA Virus
  A new virus specifically aimed at SCADA systems has been discovered. The virus works on the Microsoft platform, and Siemens' SCADA software appears particularly vulnerable. Pipeline operators are encouraged to contact Microsoft, or Siemens, for advice on investigation and fixes. The Department of Homeland Security encourages all operators of SCADA systems to be vigilant in securing their systems from these kind of attacks.
• June 30, 2010: EPA and Coast Guard Suspend Spill Response Times for Some Operators
  EPA and the Coast Guard issue an emergency interim rule suspending oil spill response times and response contractor obligations, but only for those operators who have actually sent resources to support the Gulf spill. Notably, the emergency rule omitted OPS in its coverage, making the suspension of less utility to pipeline operators. See 75 Fed. Reg. 37712
• May 24, 2009: Reauthorization of Pipeline Safety Act
  Congressional funding for PHMSA must be reviewed and renewed every four years, which typically results in some legislative amendments as part of reauthorization. The last reauthorization was in 2006 (PIPES Act), thus 2010 is a reauthorization year. The first Congressional hearings on reauthorization began in the House on May 24 (notably after the Gulf spill occurred). Although Congress is focused on applying 'lessons learned' from the Gulf spill to the pipeline industry, even citizen watchdogs have commented that PHMSA is 'a very different organization than the MMS', and the pipeline industry has made significant improvements in its safety record over the past 10 years (statement of Carl Weimer, Pipeline Safety Trust, before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Cmte, May 24, 2010).
  
  Several Congressional hearings on PSA reauthorization have been held from May through July, 2010. A final bill is expected no sooner than end of this year.
• May 21, 2009: DHS Releases Final Guidance for Developing Site Security Plans Under Chemical Security Regulation,