The PIPES Act of 2016 was signed into law on June 22, 2016. The purposes of the act are to protect the U.S. infrastructure of pipelines and to enhance public safety. PIPES requires certification, data management, testing and mapping of all types of the more than 2.6 million miles of buried energy pipelines across the country. Its impact on geospatial mapping and data is significant.
“Everyone has seen this coming, so no one is shocked or panicking, but clearly they are picking up the pace of creating new processes and are willing to understand how new technologies can help to meet these new demands,” says Troy Taggart, president of Geospatial Corporation, which provides cloud-based solutions to locate and digitally map underground pipelines and other infrastructure in three dimensions in the U.S.
When a reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) pipeline safety act expired in 2015, only half of the act’s 42 directives had been completed. The PIPES Act of 2016 ensures that the agency completes these requirements through a more dynamic and data-driven approach.