Press Release: 10/21/2025

Senator Markey, Representative Trahan Secure Inclusion of Legislative Priorities in Senate Pipeline Safety Reauthorization Bill

 

Washington (October 21, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Representative Lori Trahan (MA-03) today applauded the inclusion of their pipeline safety priorities in the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025, which was reported favorably out of the Senate Commerce Committee today. 

In addition to reauthorizing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the agency responsible for regulating pipeline safety, the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025 includes provisions from Senator Markey and Representative Trahan’s Pipeline Accountability Act to establish an Office of Public Engagement, improve carbon dioxide pipeline safety, study hydrogen blending in pipeline transportation, report hydrogen blending in pipelines, increase civil penalties for pipeline companies that violate safety laws, and reauthorize the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization grant program.

“We are pleased the pipeline safety reauthorization bill includes our provisions to increase transparency, support public engagement, and protect public safety. Devastating and deadly pipeline disasters, like the 2018 gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley, show why we need a watchdog, not a lapdog, when it comes to pipeline safety regulations,” said the lawmakers. “Companies that put the public at risk need to be held accountable, and our communities and first responders should be given the tools they need to stay safe. Safety regulations must be able to address new substances flowing through our pipes, like carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Thanks to these provisions, our homes, our communities, and our environment will be safer as we continue to work to end our dependence on polluting fuels.”

Senator Markey and Representative Trahan are champions of increased pipeline safety. In August, Senator Markey and Representative Trahan introduced the Pipeline Accountability Act, a comprehensive legislative package that updates pipeline safety standards, enhances public engagement in pipeline safety, improves responsiveness to pipeline disasters, and addresses environmental and climate harms.

In 2020, Senator Markey’s Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act, which was cosponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and led by Representative Trahan (MA-03) in the House, became law—strengthening emergency response and closing dangerous safety loopholes for natural gas distribution pipelines. This bill was first introduced after the Merrimack Valley gas explosions on September 13, 2018, which resulted in the death of 18-year-old Leonel Rondon, dozens of injuries, damage to more than 100 structures, and thousands of homes left without natural gas service for months.