Prompted by last year’s deadly gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., lawmakers in Washington moved uncharacteristically quickly. The Senate Finance Committee in May unanimously passed the Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2011 to toughen regulations. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, support for the legislation was so broad that Senate Democrats initiated steps to get it passed by unanimous consent.

A California utility’s “lax” approach to pipeline safety – coupled with inadquate government oversight – is the probable cause of the devastating 2010 San Bruno, California pipeline accident that killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed nearly 40 homes, displacing numerous residents.