[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2958 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2958

 To require notification of appropriate emergency response authorities 
when damage to underground pipeline facilities occurs or is discovered.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 17, 2005

  Mr. Murphy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require notification of appropriate emergency response authorities 
when damage to underground pipeline facilities occurs or is discovered.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pipeline Safety Emergency 
Notification Act'' or ``Marc and Chelsea's Law''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Over 2,000,000 miles of pipelines transport the bulk of 
        natural gas and petroleum products in the United States.
            (2) According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 
        Safety Administration, since 1986 there have been 421 
        fatalities and 1,906 injuries as a result of 7,607 incidents 
        that damaged the Nation's pipelines. These incidents have 
        resulted in $1,700,000,000 in property damage.
            (3) The leading cause of incidents to distribution 
        pipelines is external force damage during excavation work near 
        pipelines.
            (4) Existing Federal law and regulations require pipeline 
        owners and operators to have emergency procedures to address 
        pipeline emergencies. In addition, the Office of Pipeline 
        Safety has worked closely with the Common Ground Alliance to 
        develop best practices which recommend the immediate 
        notification of 9-1-1 and facility owner or operators in the 
        event of serious damage to a pipeline. However, Federal law 
        does not explicitly require such notification, and laws and 
        enforcement mechanisms vary from State to State.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to minimize the danger to 
life, health, or property that may result from damage incurred to 
underground pipeline facilities by requiring the notification of 
appropriate emergency response authorities in such instances.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY ALERT REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 60114 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by inserting ``and emergency 
        alert requirements'' after ``systems'';
            (2) in the heading of subsection (a), by inserting ``One-
        Call Notification System'' before ``Minimum Requirements'';
            (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
            (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(c) Emergency Alert Requirements.--
            ``(1) Requirement.--Any person, including a government 
        employee or contractor, who while engaged in demolition, 
        excavation, tunneling, or construction in the vicinity of a 
        pipeline facility--
                    ``(A) becomes aware of damage to the pipeline 
                facility that may endanger life or cause serious bodily 
                harm or damage to property; or
                    ``(B) damages the pipeline facility in a manner 
                that may endanger life or cause serious bodily harm or 
                damage to property,
        shall promptly report the damage to the operator of the 
        facility and to other appropriate authorities.
            ``(2) Other appropriate authorities.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, notification of other appropriate authorities shall 
        consist of--
                    ``(A) notification of medical, law enforcement, and 
                fire prevention public authorities; or
                    ``(B) calling 9-1-1.''.

SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTIES.

    Section 60122(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``, 60114(c),'' after ``60114(b)''.

SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

    Section 60123(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ``60114(c),'' after ``60114(b),''.
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