Wednesday, December 23, 2020 President-Elect Biden Announces He Will Nominate Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation On December 15, President-Elect Joe Biden announced that he will nominate Pete Buttigieg to be the Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Mr. Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and former 2020 presidential candidate. Congress Passes Legislation to Reauthorize the Pipeline Safety Act, But Enactment Is Uncertain On December 21, as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Congress approved legislation reauthorizing funding for federal pipeline safety programs through Fiscal Year 2023. However, it is not clear whether President Trump will sign the bill into law. The Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2020 (PIPES Act of 2020) would require the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to, among other things, issue regulations addressing (1) operating and maintenance standards for large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, (2) idled pipelines, (3) the safety of gas gathering pipelines, (4) minimum performance standards for methane leak detection and repair, and (5) gas distribution pipelines’ emergency response plans, responses to overpressurization events, and maintenance of maps and records of critical pressure control infrastructure.