Pipeline initiative expected this week

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will kick off the week with a trip Monday to Allentown, Pa., when Department of Transportation officials say he will shine a light on pipeline safety.

LaHood will take a tour of the site of a February explosion that resulted in five deaths and will make what officials are calling a “major announcement” about safety initiatives from the Obama administration.

The Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety administrator, Cynthia Quarterman; Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.); Allentown Mayor Ed Palowski; and the city’s fire chief, Robert Scheier, will join LaHood.

President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal includes $221 million for pipeline safety programs.

In the wake of the Allentown accident, LaHood promised to try to improve safety in the area.

“On my watch, we’re not going to rest … until we figure out what the right solutions are,” he said during a speech to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Elsewhere this week, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Tuesday will look to increase tourism in America.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday will hold another in a series of hearings preparing for overhauling federal highway and mass transit programs.

That hearing will focus on state and local perspectives, with local officials from Maryland and Montana testifying along with state officials from California and Tennessee.

Thursday, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will take a look at biofuel programs in the Department of Energy.

In the House, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will look at surface transportation programs, railroad and hazardous materials regulations and the possibility of having a civilian Base Closure and Realignment Commission.