There's some updates coming out soon from PHMSA related to enhanced pipeline safety requirements. In the U.S. alone there were 445 pipeline accidents spilling a combined 1.9 million gallons of hazardous liquids in 2014 with most of those occurring in high consequence areas such as cities, rivers, etc. where the potential for impacts to human health and the environment are the highest. Part of the regulation update requires greater monitoring of the pipeline integrity through the use of in-line inspection tools and additional controls around automatic shutdown if an unplanned event does occur. Couple of good articles 1) Oil & Gas Journal and 2) A paper by ORNL for Requirements of Automatic and Remotely Controlled Shutoff Valves on Hazardous Liquids and Natural Gas Pipelines published a few years back. With ca. 2.5 million miles of pipelines in the U.S. and greater urbanization this is an issue that's here to stay and any regulatory burden put on the operators will be just be part of the cost of doing business and passed on to the customers. Is this a fair rule or just another case of reacting to low risk occurrences and in most cases hazards?