U.S. pipeline regulators are proposing new rules aimed at strengthening safety requirements for pipelines that carry natural gas. The Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration wants to bulk up safety and inspection protocols for older lines and pipes buried under moderately populated areas where accidents could put lives at risk. The proposal also seeks to bring up standards for pipes that transport gas through rural areas closer to the level already in place for densely populated ones and add requirements for pressure testing on older pipelines. The U.S. drilling boom unleashed a massive amount of new natural gas production from shale formations in recent years, putting a bigger strain on the country’s 300,000-mile network of gas pipelines, many of which were installed decades ago. “It’s a critical rule—it updates pipelines safety regulations really looking at the safety of gas-transmission and gas-gathering lines,” PHMSA Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez […]