[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1768 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1768

To authorize States to enforce pipeline safety requirements related to 
              wellbores at interstate storage facilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 15, 2015

Mr. Roberts (for himself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize States to enforce pipeline safety requirements related to 
              wellbores at interstate storage facilities.

    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 ``Underground Gas Storage Facility 
Safety Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 60101(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (20), (21), (22), (23), 
        (24), and (25) as paragraphs (23), (24), (25), (20), (21), and 
        (22), respectively;
            (2) in paragraph (21), as redesignated, by striking ``and'' 
        at the end;
            (3) in paragraphs (22) and (24), as redesignated, by 
        striking the period at the end of each paragraph and inserting 
        a semicolon;
            (4) in paragraph (25), as redesignated, by striking the 
        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(26) `underground natural gas storage wellbore' means the 
        piping and hole drilled connecting the surface of the earth 
        with the underground natural gas storage reservoir.''.

SEC. 3. STATE ENFORCEMENT OF PIPELINE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 60104(c) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``A State authority that'' and inserting 
        ``(1) A State authority that'';
            (2) by striking ``A State authority may not'' and inserting 
        the following:
    ``(2) A State authority may not'';
            (3) by striking ``Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, a 
        State authority may enforce a requirement'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(3) Notwithstanding the limitation set forth in paragraph (2), a 
State authority may--
            ``(A) enforce a requirement'';
            (4) by striking ``chapter 61.'' and inserting ``chapter 61; 
        and''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(B) enforce a State requirement for the safe construction 
        and operation of underground natural gas storage wellbores if--
                    ``(i) the State authority has consulted with the 
                Secretary respecting the State requirement; and
                    ``(ii) the Secretary does not object to the State 
                requirement during the 30-day period beginning on the 
                date on which the consultation described in clause (i) 
                is initiated.''.
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