Transportation Secretary Duffy and Sen. Kennedy Announce New LNG Project As America Is Building Again

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) announced a new project today to promote President Trump’s energy dominance agenda. In line with the president’s order to build in America again, McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La. was selected as the site of the PHMSA National Center of Excellence for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Safety. McNeese is the first undergraduate institution in the U.S. to offer a certificate program in LNG Business and is already the site of its own LNG Center of Excellence.

“Producing and exporting LNG is one of the most powerful ways we can unleash American energy, and the Lake Charles region is a critical hub of LNG activity in the U.S.,” said Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “The sheer volume of product supplied by the state of Louisiana is unparalleled and growing, and there is no better place to locate our Center of Excellence.”

“In 2020, Congress passed the PIPES Act, which improved pipeline safety and infrastructure. As part of the bill, I added language that created the first-ever National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety, but I didn’t stop there. I made sure in that bill that the newly created Center was required to be in Louisiana. Today, President Trump and Transportation Secretary Duffy announced that the Center will be headquartered at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, and I thank them,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). 

PHMSA’s LNG Center of Excellence will facilitate research and development, training, and regulatory coordination, and will encourage the development of LNG safety solutions to real-world challenges through global and domestic collaboration among LNG stakeholders. PHMSA and other federal agencies – including the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – have worked together to help ensure the Center is focused on its mission of making the United States the leader in LNG operations. 

“The Center will advance LNG safety by promoting collaboration among government agencies, industry, academia, and other safety partners,” said PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman. “Consolidating such remarkable levels of expertise will benefit the LNG sector for many generations to come.”

“The PHMSA National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety at McNeese will be a game-changer for our region in terms of workforce development and groundbreaking research. We are excited to be on the forefront of helping ensure safety and sustainability in the energy sector and look forward to working with PHMSA to develop a world-class facility to house their staff,” said Dr. Wade Rousse, President, McNeese State University. 

The Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2020 mandated that PHMSA establish a National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety to enhance the United States as the leader and foremost expert in LNG operations by:

• Furthering the expertise of the Federal Government in the operations, management, and regulatory practices of LNG facilities;
• Acting as a repository of information on best practices for the operation of LNG facilities, and
• Facilitating collaboration among LNG sector stakeholders.

Additional information about the Center is available on PHMSA’s Website 

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s mission is to protect people and the environment by advancing the safe transportation of energy and other hazardous materials that are essential to our daily lives.  Please visit https://www.phmsa.dot.gov for more information.
 
 
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