WASHINGTON — The Bush administration plans to nominate a retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral with strong Alaska connections to run the federal government’s oversight of pipelines, including the trans-Alaska system from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.

Thomas J. Barrett, former commander of the Coast Guard in Alaska and of the base in Kodiak, is currently working as vice president of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va.

The administration expects to nominate Barrett to serve as administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The agency has frequent interactions with Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., Alaska’s major North Slope oil producers and many smaller companies seeking to transport hazardous materials in the state.

Barrett, a retired rear admiral, could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Barrett joined the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank that focuses on technology and defense issues, in January last year.

In his new job, Barrett will likely deal with Alaska issues on a regular basis, particularly if a natural gas pipeline comes closer to reality.

In recent years, the trans-Alaska pipeline and North Slope oil development have been the frequent subject of agency actions.

In 2004, the agency allowed Alyeska to start readjusting the above-ground portions of the trans-Alaska pipeline without first cutting the pressure inside the line 50 percent of the maximum. The 50-percent pressure standard applies to pipelines elsewhere in the country.

Alyeska argued that the pipeline’s unique design already allows for movement as a precaution against earthquakes and permafrost.

The agency agreed and granted the waiver. However, the waiver applies only to “routine maintenance,” not when “the pipe has fallen off the pipe supports due to seismic or hydraulic events, frost jacking or dilapidated support structures.”

In the late 1990s, the federal agency was involved in pushing the North Slope producers to address corrosion problems in the lines at Prudhoe Bay. For example, it recommended in February of 1998 that BP develop a plan to adress corrosion that agency employees found in the pipelines serving the Endicott field development.

The agency in the late 1990s also found that the pipeline that feeds the North Pole refineries was out of compliance with certain rules.

In addition to regulating pipelines, the agency frequently considers special permits for the transport of hazardous materials in Alaska.

In November, for example, it granted permits to ConocoPhillips Alaska to fly methanol, isopropanol and hypochlorite solutions from Deadhorse, at Prudhoe Bay, to the Alpine oil field 60 miles southwest.

The permits allow Air Cargo Express of Fairbanks and Northern Air Cargo and Lynden Air Cargo of Anchorage to fly the hazardous materials.

According to biographical information from the policy institute and the Coast Guard in Alaska, Barrett spent 35 years in the Coast Guard, retiring as vice commandant. In that position, he helped improve maritime security after 9/11, expanded the Coast Guard’s foreign intelligence work and worked to transfer the agency to the Department of Homeland Security. He also oversaw Deepwater, the Coast Guard’s effort to modernize its fleet.

Barrett first came to Alaska in 1981, served as an attorney in the Coast Guard’s Juneau office, then transferred to Kodiak. After a stint at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, he returned to Alaska in 1991 as commander of the Kodiak support center until 1994. After more assignments back East, he made flag rank in 1997 and returned to Alaska in 1999 as commander of the Coast Guard’s Alaska district, the 17th. He became vice commandant in 2002.

Barrett holds a degree in biology from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., and a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He is also a graduate of the Army War College.

Washington, D.C., reporter Sam Bishop can be reached via e-mail at sbishop@newsminer.com.