Safety valves required on more US gas lines
New or replaced gas service lines for hundreds of thousands of apartments and small businesses across the US must be equipped with inexpensive safety valves starting next year, following deadly fires and explosions over decades that could have been avoided, the Obama administration announced on Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board and many advocates had pressed for years to broaden requirements for so-called excess flow valves, which can shut off gas automatically when a line is ruptured.