AGA’s Kimberly Denbow Testifies to Congress on TSA Rule to Enhance Pipeline Cybersecurity 

Washington – AGA Vice President of Security and Operations Kimberly Denbow testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security. The hearing examined Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) recently released NPRM on Enhancing Surface Cyber Risk Management which seeks to regulate surface transportation, including pipeline, cybersecurity.  

“Enhancing pipeline cyber risk management is a priority for our industry,” said Denbow. “We commend TSA for issuing a proposed rule on this topic and look forward to continuing to work closely with them throughout this process to ensure the final rule meets the security requirements of our industry.” 

AGA has consistently advocated for TSA security directives (SDs) and a final rule that provides performance-driven attainable, sustainable and auditable cyber requirements. No single standard or prescriptive regulation can secure all pipeline systems along both the natural gas and oil value chains. 

“TSA and natural gas utilities have challenged the traditional prescriptive regulatory model, piloting unconventional approaches to achieve our common mission. All parties acknowledge that ‘check-the-box’ compliance does not equate to security, and that numerous paths can lead to the same security outcome,” continued Denbow. “However, as written, the NPRM proposes to collect and aggregate security and operations-related sensitive information of critical infrastructure, storing it in a centralized location under TSA’s jurisdiction. No system is perfectly secure, and aggregating so much vital information in one location would create a massive security vulnerability to the pipeline owners/operators with no corresponding benefit.”  

AGA intends to offer alternate pathways to ensure TSA has the information it needs and the industry has confidence that its sensitive data is secure. 

AGA and its member companies are committed to utilizing leading security practices and training, investing in purposeful security technologies and promoting an industrywide vigilant security culture to fortify our security defenses and enhance all aspects of safety. As part of this process, AGA has worked closely with TSA to advance both cybersecurity and physical security via innovative outcome-focused approaches to security regulation. 

Kimberly Denbow’s full testimony can be accessed here.