Sann Naing

Sann is a Senior Utilities Engineer at the Gas Safety and Reliability Branch (GSRB), the Safety and Enforcement Division (SED), CPUC. Besides his regular role in ensuring gas safety and compliance of CPUC regulated gas operators, Sann particularly holds the role of oversight on GSRB's damage prevention program. Since he joined SED in 2016, Sann has experienced investigations of gas pipeline damage incidents and involved with federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)’s investigation of California’s DOT reportable gas incidents. Sann helped prepare the GSRB inspection procedure to ensure that CPUC’s jurisdictional gas utilities operators are not only complying with CPUC General Order 112-F, Reference federal regulations and California One-Call law, but also enhancing their programs with focus on areas that would result in meaningful damage reductions. Sann understands and realizes that excavation damage is a leading cause of pipeline incidents, and he strongly agrees that damage prevention is shared accountability among stakeholders. Sann helped initiate a plan that CPUC shares with California Underground Safety Board (USB) of its gas-related damage incident investigation reports on CPUC reportable incidents to better assist the understanding of real issues facing excavation damages to underground pipelines. Starting 2021, Sann joined USA North’s Board of Directors as a Stakeholder board member, representing CPUC. At the same year, Sann continued CPUC membership of CARCGA and joined CARCGA’s Legislative and Regulatory (Leg-Reg) Committee and Subsurface & Safety Incident Prevention Committee (SSIP). Sann believes that the prevention of damage needs more collaborative efforts, identification of issue areas, and having proactive processes in place before the events arise. While leaving the room for damage to happen, the enforcement alone may not arrive at the root of this challenging issue, preventing damage to underground subsurface facilities. Strengthening the state’s One-Call law with informed decisions based on actionable data and industry experiences and working with state One-Call Centers and all involved parties, including facility operators, contractors, locators, local authorities, and state and federal agencies, Sann believes that the industry will attain the highest possible positive results on preventing the damage. Prior to joining SED, Sann had over two decades of local and international working experiences in diverse engineering projects, encompassing railroad and construction engineering. Sann earned a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach and a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yangon Institute of Technology, Myanmar. Sann is a registered professional engineer (P.E.) with the state of California. Sann’s hobbies include watching TV news, Soccer games, reading books, travelling, and family vacations. During covid, Sann started learning golf and added golfing to his hobbies.