Crs Report for Congress Received through the Crs Web Liquefied Natural Gas (Lng) Import Terminals : Sitting, Safety and Regulation Updated May 27, 2004

By Parfomak, Paul W.

Book Id: WPLBN0000209363
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 0.2 MB
Reproduction Date: 2008

Title:	Crs Report for Congress Received through the Crs Web Liquefied Natural Gas (Lng) Import Terminals : Sitting, Safety and Regulation Updated May 27, 2004
Author:	Parfomak, Paul W.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Government publications, Legislation., Government Printing Office (U.S.)
Collections:	Government Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Government Printing Office


Citation APA MLA Chicago Parfomak, P. W. (n.d.). Crs Report for Congress Received through the Crs Web Liquefied Natural Gas (Lng) Import Terminals : Sitting, Safety and Regulation Updated May 27, 2004. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.us/

Excerpt
Summary: Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a hazardous fuel frequently shipped in large tankers to U.S. ports from overseas. While LNG has historically made up a small part of U.S. natural gas supplies, rising gas prices, current price volatility, and the possibility of domestic shortages are sharply increasing LNG demand. To meet this demand, energy companies have proposed building dozens of new LNG import terminals throughout the coastal United States. But many of these terminals would be built onshore near populated areas, so local communities fear the terminals would expose them to unacceptable safety and security hazards. Potentially catastrophic pool fires or vapor cloud fires could arise from a serious accident or attack on LNG infrastructure. Faced with the widely perceived need for greater LNG imports, and persistent public concerns about LNG safety, Congress is examining the adequacy of safety provisions in Federal LNG regulation.

Table of Contents
Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Issues Facing Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Scope and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 What Is LNG and Where Does It Come From? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Expectations for U.S. LNG Import Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Proposed LNG Import Terminals in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Safety Hazards from LNG Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Physical Hazards of LNG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Pool Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Other Safety Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Terrorism Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Safety Record of LNG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Safety Regulations in Onshore LNG Siting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Department of Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 FERC-DOT Jurisdictional Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 State Regulatory Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Federal-State Jurisdictional Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Recent Safety Issues in LNG Terminal Siting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Safety Exclusion Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 NFPA Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 FERC Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Marine Safety Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Remote Siting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 LNG Hazard Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Hazards vs. Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 LNG Terminal Safety in Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Other Hazardous Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Terror Attractiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Civil and Criminal Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Policy Options for Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Banning Onshore LNG Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Redefining Federal and Local Siting Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Setting More Stringent Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Encouraging More Safety Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Reducing LNG Demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .