U.S. Department of Transportation
Date of this Version
2011
Abstract
The purpose of this document is to report findings from the research peer reviews held April 14, April 20, April 26 & April 27, 2011 for PHMSA’s Pipeline Safety Research and Development Program. The findings and recommendations in this report are derived from the scoring and comments collected from the peer review panelists.
Department of Transportation (DOT) Operating Agencies (OA) are required to develop and execute a systematic process for peer reviews and for all influential and highly influential information that the OA plans to disseminate in the foreseeable future.
Through the Information Quality Act, Congress directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to “provide policy and procedural guidance to Federal agencies for ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information, (including statistical information) disseminated by Federal agencies.” A resulting OMB Bulletin, titled “Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review,” was issued, that prescribe required procedures for Federal programs.
The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) produced procedures governing modal implementation of this OMB Bulletin. These procedures, as well as the OMB Bulletin, serve as the basis and justification for the PHMSA Pipeline Safety R&D Program peer reviews.
The purpose of these peer reviews is to uncover technical problems, to keep projects on target or aligned with stakeholder needs and to give technical guidance with technically competent and independent, objective experts. These reviews are held annually for active research projects and usually occur in the second quarter of each fiscal year.
Comments
Published by the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (2011) 39 p.