[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 146 (Wednesday, November 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10966-S10967]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION TO ENHANCE SECURITY AND SAFETY ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
3609 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3609) to amend title 49, to enhance the 
     security and safety of pipelines.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, Congressional action to send 
comprehensive pipeline safety legislation to the President is long 
overdue. The Senate has worked long and hard during both the 106th and 
the 107th Congresses on this important issue and we should not let any 
more time pass without taking needed action to improve pipeline safety. 
I am hopeful we will finally achieve final passage on this issue before 
adjournment.
  The Office of Pipeline Safety, OPS, within the Department of 
Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration, RSPA, 
oversees the transportation of about 65 percent of the petroleum and 
most of the natural gas transported in the United States. OPS regulates 
the day-to-day safety of 3,000 gas pipeline operators with more than 
1.6 million miles of pipeline. It also regulates more than 200 
hazardous liquid operators with 155,000 miles of pipelines. Given the 
immense array of pipelines that traverse our nation, reauthorization of 
our pipeline safety programs is critical to the safety and security of 
thousands of communities and millions of Americans nationwide.
  As my colleagues know, the Senate has approved pipeline safety 
legislation three times in the last three years. Twice we passed stand 
alone bills, in 2000 and again in 2001. Beginning in the 106th 
Congress, we worked on a bipartisan basis to develop and approve 
legislation to promote both public and environmental safety by 
reauthorizing and strengthening our Federal pipeline safety programs 
which expired in September 2000. In particular, the efforts of Senators 
Slade Gorton and Patty Murray were instrumental to the Senate's efforts 
to address this important safety issue.
  In our protracted effort to enact pipeline safety legislation--the 
House had not approved its version of a related measure--we resorted to 
adding the pipeline safety bill to the Energy bill during its floor 
consideration last March. Subsequently, the House approved its pipeline 
safety legislation in July. While the House-passed energy bill did not 
include pipeline safety provisions, the House agreed to try to reach a 
consensus on the important issue in the context of the energy 
conference. As a result, the measure before us today is the sound, pro-
safety agreement that was achieved during the energy conference 
deliberations.
  The members of the energy conference are to be commended for their 
commitment to this important issue. They developed a consensus pipeline 
safety title that includes the best provisions from both the Senate- 
and House-passed bills. Although I did not serve as a formal member of 
that conference, we shared a goal of enacting comprehensive legislation 
to promote pipeline safety for the public, the environment, and the 
economy.
  I want to commend Representatives Billy Tauzin, John Dingell, and Don 
Young and Senators Jeff Bingaman and Frank Murkowski for their 
leadership and hard work on this issue and their courtesies to ensure 
the Senate authorizing committee was fully consulted during the 
process. Given that a consensus on a comprehensive energy package will 
not be achieved during this Congress, it is time to move forward and 
approve the agreement that was reached regarding pipeline safety.
  In large part, the legislation before us is the result of several 
tragic pipeline accidents that have occurred in recent years. Since 
1999, pipeline accidents have resulted in 78 fatalities. In June 1999, 
a fatal accident occurred in Bellingham, Washington, when gasoline 
leaked from an underground pipeline and was subsequently ignited. That 
accident resulted in three deaths, a number of injuries, and severe 
environmental damage to the area. On August 19, 2000, a natural gas 
transmission line ruptured in Carlsbad, New Mexico, killing 12 members 
of two families. These were two very serious accidents and they helped 
spur the Senate's action to address identified safety shortcomings.
  As I mentioned, the Senate has worked at length to improve pipeline 
safety and reduce the risk of future accidents. During the last 
Congress, with the assistance of a bipartisan group of Senators, the 
Senate passed the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2000. Since the 
House failed to approve pipeline safety legislation, we were never able 
to send a measure to the President.
  When the 107th Congress convened, one of the first legislative 
actions taken by the Senate was to consider and pass S. 235, the 
Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2001, a measure nearly identical to 
what we passed in the prior Congress. Early attention by the Senate 
demonstrated our firm commitment to improving pipeline safety. Although 
it has taken far longer than I

[[Page S10967]]

would have hoped, it is important that we are taking this action today 
as we work to finish our legislative activities for the year.
  Despite the tragic accidents I highlighted earlier, the safety record 
of the pipeline industry has generally improved significantly and 
compares favorably to other forms of transportation. According to the 
Department of Transportation, pipeline related incidents dropped nearly 
80 percent between 1975 and 1998, and the loss of product due to 
accidental ruptures has been cut in half. From 1989 through 2001, 
pipeline accidents resulted in about 24 fatalities per year, far fewer 
than the number of fatal accidents experienced among other modes of 
transportation. But this record must not be used as an excuse for 
inaction on legislation to strengthen pipeline safety.
  The pipeline safety program expired more than two years ago. It is 
essential that the Congress take final action on this critical public 
and environmental safety issue. This legislation reauthorizes and 
strengthens Federal pipeline safety programs, providing additional 
funding for safety enforcement and research and development efforts. It 
also provides for increased State oversight authority and facilitates 
greater public education efforts at the local community level.
  This pending pipeline safety legislation includes many important 
provisions. I urge my colleagues to support final passage of this 
critical safety improvement legislation.
  Mr. BREAUX. Madam President, I rise in support of H.R. 3609, the 
Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, which will improve the safety 
and security of our Nation's pipeline systems through important reforms 
within our Federal safety regulatory program. This idea is not new. The 
Senate passed this legislation in the 106th Congress, and again in 
February 2001 as one of the first orders of business of the 107th 
Congress. The Senate also passed the same language as part of the 
Energy Policy Act of 2002. This bill is the product of good-faith 
compromise over three years of work, including compromise with the 
House of Representatives, and I ask my colleagues to join me in its 
support.
  Both liquid and natural gas pipelines provide transportation of vital 
energy resources to many parts of our country. In my State, pipelines 
support what was recently determined to be a $92 billion oil and gas 
industry. Louisiana is the third leading producer of natural gas and 
fourth leading producer of crude oil in the country. These products 
must be transported to the rest of the country for consumption, and 
pipelines are a key part of this infrastructure. In Louisiana alone, 
there are over 40,000 miles of gas pipelines, some of which pass 
through towns, residential areas, schools, churches, and other high-
consequence areas. Oil and other product pipelines also number in the 
thousands of miles in my State.
  In recent years, we have experienced at least two major pipeline 
accidents: one in Bellingham, WA, and the other near Carlsbad, NM. I am 
deeply sympathetic to the families of the victims of these tragedies. 
Nothing can possibly replace their losses. What we have endeavored to 
do here is take steps to ensure that we as a government address the 
risks of such accidents in the best possible manner. I think that this 
legislation will increase the tools available to the Secretary of 
Transportation to ensure that our pipeline system is as safe as 
possible. I would ask that the Secretary use the tools that we provide 
to ensure the aggressive oversight of pipeline safety practices, and 
involve and protect the affected communities to the greatest possible 
extent.
  Passage of this bill will help to ensure the safety and security of 
natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines and will take strides to 
increase the safety of our network of oil and natural gas pipelines. I 
appreciate the considerable number of hours that went into creating 
this bill by all of the parties. I am also satisfied with the spirit of 
compromise that accompanied the parties' diligent efforts. As a result 
of their cooperative work we have a bill that reaffirms our efforts to 
regulate gas and hazardous liquid pipelines safety and effectively 
without interfering with the pipeline gas and hazardous liquid 
pipelines safely and effectively without interfering with the pipeline 
operators' and owners' ability to provide service to our Nation and 
without compromising national security.
  While there were many who worked arduously to ensure passage of 
legislation in this area, Senator Murray, Senator Bingaman, and Senator 
McCain should be recognized for their important contributions. Senator 
Murray vigorously 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. We also added provisions 
he authored 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. Senator McCain is to be recognized for his continuing 
efforts to get this legislation passed. He first initiated this effort 
years ago as Chairman of the Committee. Last, I would like to thank the 
efforts of my dedicated staff and all those staff members who helped 
reach this agreement.
  Clearly, this measure is a compromise, and as such, not every group 
got exactly what they wanted, but this measure will advance the 
programs and system regulating the safety of our pipeline system. It 
will require our regulators to finalize a number of overdue 
regulations. The bill also updates the penalties that would be levied 
for misconduct and provides whistle blower protection for employees who 
reveal misconduct. Further, the bill helps us focus on long-term 
research needs so as to make our future pipeline system even safer. 
Investment today in research will help us be more efficient and 
effective in providing a safer and more secure system. While I was for 
the most part pleased with the final product that we negotiated in this 
bill, I was concerned that we did not include provisions that would 
have outlined what sort of pipeline safety information should be made 
available to the public. Concerns were raised that public disclosure of 
certain pipeline safety information could jeopardize security. We need 
to take a look at how we get safety information to the people who need 
it, but protect that information from those who wish to do harm if it 
is security-sensitive.
  Overall, this is good legislation. It will improve the safety of our 
pipelines and communities through which pipelines run, and I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. DURBIN. I understand Senators McCain and Hollings have a 
substitute amendment at the desk. I ask unanimous consent that the 
amendment be considered and agreed to; the motion to reconsider by laid 
upon the table; the bill, as amended, be read three times and passed 
and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and that any 
statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 4904) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The bill (H.R. 3609), as amended, was read the third time and passed.

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