[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 26 (Monday, March 11, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1727-S1728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE PIPELINE SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2002

  Mr. BREAUX. Madam President, I rise in support of amendment No. 2979 
to S. 517, the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, which will 
enhance the safety of our interstate pipeline systems. As you may 
recall, the Senate passed this legislation last February as one of the 
first orders of business of the 107th Congress. This bill is the 
product of over 3 years of work and recent compromise and I urge my 
colleagues to join me in support.
  The aim of the bill is to ensure the safety and security of natural 
gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. I appreciate the considerable 
number of hours that went into creating this bill by all of the 
parties. I also am satisfied by the spirit of compromise that infused 
the parties' diligent efforts. As a result of their cooperative work we 
have a bill that reaffirms our efforts to oversee the safety of gas and 
hazardous liquid pipelines effectively without interfering with the 
pipeline operators and owners ability to provide service to our nation 
and without compromising national security.
  Last Congress, the Senate passed an almost identical version of this 
bill by unanimous consent. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the bill was 
not passed by the House of Representatives under the expedited 
procedures of suspension of the rules, because it did not pass with a 
two-thirds majority, although a majority supported the measure, 232-
158.
  Last February, the Senate again approved this bipartisan legislation, 
yet we are still awaiting action by the House on this measure. Today, 
we are offering this legislation as an amendment to S. 517 in an effort 
to focus attention on this important safety matter and work toward 
reconciling our legislation with the House of Representatives. I hope 
that we can continue to work with all of the interested parties as the 
legislation moves though the legislative process.
  Over the past few years, we have experienced two major pipeline 
accidents, one in Bellingham, WA, and the other near Carlsbad, NM. 
While these tragic accidents happened, we need to take all necessary 
steps to ensure that other accidents are not waiting to happen. I think 
that this legislation will increase the tools available to OPS to 
ensure that our pipeline system is as safe as possible. I would ask 
that OPS use the tools that we provide to ensure the appropriate level 
of oversight of pipeline safety practices.
  While there were many who worked with Senators McCain and Hollings on 
the Commerce Committee to ensure passage of pipeline safety 
legislation, I would like to recognize, in particular, the efforts of 
Senators Murray and Bingaman. Senator Murray doggedly pursued changes 
to increase the level of safety and public participation in pipeline 
safety, and she worked closely with other Commerce Committee members to 
ensure a reasonable and fair compromise. Senator Bingaman was 
instrumental in helping bolster the bill's provisions on research and 
development, in fact, he authored provisions to focus our research on 
progressive areas that will help us develop better systems of early 
detection, and to ensure that we can avoid accidents such as those that 
occurred in Bellingham, WA, and near Carlsbad, NM.
  A floor amendment which was accepted during consideration of S. 235 
last February mandates a 5-year integrity inspection period for 
pipelines. Since passage of the S. 235 last February, I understand that 
studies, conducted by Batelle and Energy and Environmental Analysis, 
Inc., indicate that a 5-year period for integrity inspections will 
cause significant impacts on natural gas consumers as a result of 
pipeline capacity reductions resulting from such a short inspection 
period. I want to bring these studies to the attention of my colleagues 
as we prepare to move this important piece of pipeline safety 
legislation to conference.

[[Page S1728]]

  Lastly, I would like to address one change to the legislation since 
Senate passage last year. Since September 11, we have all recognized 
that the way the Government has done business may change due to 
security concerns. In the past, we have made efforts to expand the 
amounts of information made available to the public, including 
encouraging electronic access to more data and information on 
pipelines. Today, we must balance the concerns of national security 
with the needs of law-abiding citizens who live and work alongside 
pipelines. We have included language which, in my opinion, fairly 
addresses the concerns of the public in obtaining pipeline safety 
information and enables the Government to safeguard information which 
could be used to do harm or for terrorist activities.
  This bill is good legislation. It will require greater safety and 
oversight of our Nation's pipeline system. The bill also allows for a 
greater degree of public participation in the process of pipeline 
safety, without jeopardizing national security, updates the penalties 
that would be levied for misconduct and provides whistle blower 
protection for employees who reveal misconduct. The bill also provides 
for Federal investment in research which will help us be more efficient 
and effective in providing a safer and more secure system. I urge my 
colleagues to support this measure.

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