[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 133 (Wednesday, December 6, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H8834-H8844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PIPELINE INSPECTION, PROTECTION, ENFORCEMENT, AND SAFETY ACT OF 2006
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 5782) to amend title 49, United States Code, to
provide for enhanced safety and environmental protection in pipeline
transportation, to provide for enhanced reliability in the
transportation of the Nation's energy products by pipeline, and for
other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5782
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES
CODE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Pipeline
Inspection, Protection, Enforcement, and Safety Act of
2006''.
(b) Amendment of Title 49, United States Code.--Except as
otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to,
or a repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other
provision of title 49, United States Code.
(c) Table of Contents.--
Sec. 1. Short title; amendment of title 49, United States Code; table
of contents.
Sec. 2. Pipeline safety and damage prevention.
Sec. 3. Public education and awareness.
Sec. 4. Low-stress pipelines.
Sec. 5. Technical assistance grants.
Sec. 6. Enforcement transparency.
Sec. 7. Direct line sales.
Sec. 8. Petroleum transportation capacity and regulatory adequacy
study.
Sec. 9. Distribution integrity management program rulemaking deadline.
[[Page H8835]]
Sec. 10. Emergency waivers.
Sec. 11. Restoration of operations.
Sec. 12. Pipeline control room management.
Sec. 13. Safety orders.
Sec. 14. Integrity program enforcement.
Sec. 15. Incident reporting.
Sec. 16. Senior executive signature of integrity management program
performance reports.
Sec. 17. Cost recovery for design reviews.
Sec. 18. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 19. Standards to implement NTSB recommendations.
Sec. 20. Accident reporting form.
Sec. 21. Leak detection technology study.
Sec. 22. Corrosion control regulations.
Sec. 23. Inspector General report.
Sec. 24. Technical assistance program.
Sec. 25. Natural gas pipelines.
Sec. 26. Corrosion technology.
SEC. 2. PIPELINE SAFETY AND DAMAGE PREVENTION.
(a) One Call Civil Enforcement.--
(1) Prohibitions.--Section 60114 is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(d) Prohibition Applicable to Excavators.--A person who
engages in demolition, excavation, tunneling, or
construction--
``(1) may not engage in a demolition, excavation,
tunneling, or construction activity in a State that has
adopted a one-call notification system without first using
that system to establish the location of underground
facilities in the demolition, excavation, tunneling, or
construction area;
``(2) may not engage in such demolition, excavation,
tunneling, or construction activity in disregard of location
information or markings established by a pipeline facility
operator pursuant to subsection (b); and
``(3) and who causes damage to a pipeline facility that may
endanger life or cause serious bodily harm or damage to
property--
``(A) may not fail to promptly report the damage to the
owner or operator of the facility; and
``(B) if the damage results in the escape of any flammable,
toxic, or corrosive gas or liquid, may not fail to promptly
report to other appropriate authorities by calling the 911
emergency telephone number.
``(e) Prohibition Applicable to Underground Pipeline
Facility Owners and Operators.--Any owner or operator of a
pipeline facility who fails to respond to a location request
in order to prevent damage to the pipeline facility or who
fails to take reasonable steps, in response to such a
request, to ensure accurate marking of the location of the
pipeline facility in order to prevent damage to the pipeline
facility shall be subject to a civil action under section
60120 or assessment of a civil penalty under section 60122.
``(f) Limitation.--The Secretary may not conduct an
enforcement proceeding under subsection (d) for a violation
within the boundaries of a State that has the authority to
impose penalties described in section 60134(b)(7) against
persons who violate that State's damage prevention laws,
unless the Secretary has determined that the State's
enforcement is inadequate to protect safety, consistent with
this chapter, and until the Secretary issues, through a
rulemaking proceeding, the procedures for determining
inadequate State enforcement of penalties.''.
(2) Civil penalty.--Section 60122(a)(1) is amended by
striking ``60114(b)'' and inserting ``60114(b), 60114(d),''.
(b) State Damage Prevention Programs.--
(1) Contents of certifications.--Section 60105(b)(4) is
amended to read as follows:
``(4) is encouraging and promoting the establishment of a
program designed to prevent damage by demolition, excavation,
tunneling, or construction activity to the pipeline
facilities to which the certification applies that subjects
persons who violate the applicable requirements of that
program to civil penalties and other enforcement actions that
are substantially the same as are provided under this
chapter, and addresses the elements in section 60134(b);''.
(2) In general.--Chapter 601 is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``Sec. 60134. State damage prevention programs
``(a) In General.--The Secretary may make a grant to a
State authority (including a municipality with respect to
intrastate gas pipeline transportation) to assist in
improving the overall quality and effectiveness of a damage
prevention program of the State authority under subsection
(e) if the State authority--
``(1) has in effect an annual certification under section
60105 or an agreement under section 60106; and
``(2)(A) has in effect an effective damage prevention
program that meets the requirements of subsection (b); or
``(B) demonstrates that it has made substantial progress
toward establishing such a program, and that such program
will meet the requirements of subsection (b).
``(b) Damage Prevention Program Elements.--An effective
damage prevention program includes the following elements:
``(1) Participation by operators, excavators, and other
stakeholders in the development and implementation of methods
for establishing and maintaining effective communications
between stakeholders from receipt of an excavation
notification until successful completion of the excavation,
as appropriate.
``(2) A process for fostering and ensuring the support and
partnership of stakeholders, including excavators, operators,
locators, designers, and local government in all phases of
the program.
``(3) A process for reviewing the adequacy of a pipeline
operator's internal performance measures regarding persons
performing locating services and quality assurance programs.
``(4) Participation by operators, excavators, and other
stakeholders in the development and implementation of
effective employee training programs to ensure that
operators, the one-call center, the enforcing agency, and the
excavators have partnered to design and implement training
for the employees of operators, excavators, and locators.
``(5) A process for fostering and ensuring active
participation by all stakeholders in public education for
damage prevention activities.
``(6) A process for resolving disputes that defines the
State authority's role as a partner and facilitator to
resolve issues.
``(7) Enforcement of State damage prevention laws and
regulations for all aspects of the damage prevention process,
including public education, and the use of civil penalties
for violations assessable by the appropriate State authority.
``(8) A process for fostering and promoting the use, by all
appropriate stakeholders, of improving technologies that may
enhance communications, underground pipeline locating
capability, and gathering and analyzing information about the
accuracy and effectiveness of locating programs.
``(9) A process for review and analysis of the
effectiveness of each program element, including a means for
implementing improvements identified by such program reviews.
``(c) Factors to Consider.--In making grants under this
section, the Secretary shall take into consideration the
commitment of each State to ensuring the effectiveness of its
damage prevention program, including legislative and
regulatory actions taken by the State.
``(d) Application.--If a State authority files an
application for a grant under this section not later than
September 30 of a calendar year and demonstrates that the
Governor (or chief executive) of the State has designated it
as the appropriate State authority to receive the grant, the
Secretary shall review the State's damage prevention program
to determine its effectiveness.
``(e) Use of Funds.--A grant under this section to a State
authority may only be used to pay the cost of the personnel,
equipment, and activities that the State authority reasonably
requires for the calendar year covered by the grant to
develop or carry out its damage prevention program in
accordance with subsection (b).
``(f) Nonapplicability of Limitation.--A grant made under
this section is not subject to the section 60107(a)
limitation on the maximum percentage of funds to be paid by
the Secretary.
``(g) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Funds provided to carry
out this section may not be used for lobbying or in direct
support of litigation.
``(h) Damage Prevention Process Defined.--In this section,
the term `damage prevention process' means a process that
incorporates the principles described in sections 60114(b),
60114(d), and 60114(e).''.
(3) Clerical amendment.--The analysis for chapter 601 is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``60134. State damage prevention programs.''.
(c) State Pipeline Safety Grants.--Section 60107(a) is
amended by striking ``not more than 50 percent'' and
inserting ``not more than 80 percent''.
(d) Maintenance of Effort.--Section 60107(b) is amended by
striking ``spent--'' and all that follows and inserting
``spent for gas and hazardous liquid safety programs for the
3 fiscal years prior to the fiscal year in which the
Secretary makes the payment, except when the Secretary waives
this requirement.''.
(e) Damage Prevention Technology Development.--Section
60114 (as amended by subsection (a)(1) of this section) is
further amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Technology Development Grants.--The Secretary may
make grants to any organization or entity (not including for-
profit entities) for the development of technologies that
will facilitate the prevention of pipeline damage caused by
demolition, excavation, tunneling, or construction
activities, with emphasis on wireless and global positioning
technologies having potential for use in connection with
notification systems and underground facility locating and
marking services. Funds provided under this subsection may
not be used for lobbying or in direct support of litigation.
The Secretary may also support such technology development
through cooperative agreements with trade associations,
academic institutions, and other organizations.''.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC EDUCATION AND AWARENESS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 61 is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``Sec. 6109. Public education and awareness
``(a) Grant Authority.--The Secretary shall make a grant to
an appropriate entity for promoting public education and
awareness with respect to the 811 national excavation damage
prevention phone number.
``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary $1,000,000 for the period
beginning October 1, 2006, and ending September 30, 2008, to
carry out this section.''.
[[Page H8836]]
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 61 is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``6109. Public education and awareness.''.
SEC. 4. LOW-STRESS PIPELINES.
Section 60102(k) is amended to read as follows:
``(k) Low-Stress Hazardous Liquid Pipelines.--
``(1) Minimum standards.--Not later than December 31, 2007,
the Secretary shall issue regulations subjecting low-stress
hazardous liquid pipelines to the same standards and
regulations as other hazardous liquid pipelines, except as
provided in paragraph (3). The implementation of the
applicable standards and regulatory requirements may be
phased in. The regulations issued under this paragraph shall
not apply to gathering lines.
``(2) General prohibition against low internal stress
exception.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), the
Secretary may not provide an exception to the requirements of
this chapter for a hazardous liquid pipeline because the
pipeline operates at low internal stress.
``(3) Limited exceptions.--The Secretary shall provide or
continue in force exceptions to this subsection for low-
stress hazardous liquid pipelines that--
``(A) are subject to safety regulations of the United
States Coast Guard; or
``(B) serve refining, manufacturing, or truck, rail, or
vessel terminal facilities if the pipeline is less than 1
mile long (measured outside the facility grounds) and does
not cross an offshore area or a waterway currently used for
commercial navigation,
until regulations issued under paragraph (1) become
effective. After such regulations become effective, the
Secretary may retain or remove those exceptions as
appropriate.
``(4) Relationship to other laws.--Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise affect
the applicability of any other statutory or regulatory
exemption to any hazardous liquid pipeline.
``(5) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the
term `low-stress hazardous liquid pipeline' means a hazardous
liquid pipeline that is operated in its entirety at a stress
level of 20 percent or less of the specified minimum yield
strength of the line pipe.
``(6) Effective date.--The requirements of this subsection
shall not take effect as to low-stress hazardous liquid
pipeline operators before the effective date of the rules
promulgated by the Secretary under this subsection.''.
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.
Section 60130 is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ``The Secretary shall
establish competitive'' and insert ``No grants may be awarded
under section 60114(g) until the Secretary has established
competitive'';
(2) in subsection (a) by redesignating paragraph (2) as
paragraph (4);
(3) in subsection (a) by inserting after paragraph (1) the
following:
``(2) Demonstration grants.--At least the first 3 grants
awarded under this section shall be demonstration grants for
the purpose of demonstrating and evaluating the utility of
grants under this section. Each such demonstration grant
shall not exceed $25,000.
``(3) Dissemination of technical findings.--Each recipient
of a grant under this section shall ensure that--
``(A) the technical findings made possible by the grants
are made available to the relevant operators; and
``(B) open communication between the grant recipients,
local operators, local communities, and other interested
parties is encouraged.''; and
(4) in subsection (d) by striking ``2006'' and inserting
``2010''.
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT TRANSPARENCY.
(a) In General.--Chapter 601 (as amended by section 2(b) of
this Act) is further amended by adding at the end the
following:
``Sec. 60135. Enforcement transparency
``(a) In General.--Not later than December 31, 2007, the
Secretary shall--
``(1) provide a monthly updated summary to the public of
all gas and hazardous liquid pipeline enforcement actions
taken by the Secretary or the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration, from the time a notice
commencing an enforcement action is issued until the
enforcement action is final;
``(2) include in each such summary identification of the
operator involved in the enforcement activity, the type of
alleged violation, the penalty or penalties proposed, any
changes in case status since the previous summary, the final
assessment amount of each penalty, and the reasons for a
reduction in the proposed penalty, if appropriate; and
``(3) provide a mechanism by which a pipeline operator
named in an enforcement action may make information,
explanations, or documents it believes are responsive to the
enforcement action available to the public.
``(b) Electronic Availability.--Each summary under this
section shall be made available to the public by electronic
means.
``(c) Relationship to FOIA.--Nothing in this section shall
be construed to require disclosure of information or records
that are exempt from disclosure under section 552 of title
5.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 601 (as
amended by section 2(b) of this Act) is further amended by
adding at the end:
``60135. Enforcement transparency.''.
SEC. 7. DIRECT LINE SALES.
Section 60101(a) is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:
``(6) `interstate gas pipeline facility' means a gas
pipeline facility--
``(A) used to transport gas; and
``(B) subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission under
the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.);''; and
(2) by striking paragraph (9) and inserting the following:
``(9) `intrastate gas pipeline facility' means a gas
pipeline facility and transportation of gas within a State
not subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission under the
Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.);''.
SEC. 8. PETROLEUM TRANSPORTATION CAPACITY AND REGULATORY
ADEQUACY STUDY.
(a) In General.--Chapter 601 (as amended by sections 2(b)
and 6 of this Act) is further amended by adding at the end
the following:
``Sec. 60136. Petroleum product transportation capacity study
``(a) In General.--The Secretaries of Transportation and
Energy shall conduct periodic analyses of the domestic
transport of petroleum products by pipeline. Such analyses
should identify areas of the United States where unplanned
loss of individual pipeline facilities may cause shortages of
petroleum products or price disruptions and where shortages
of pipeline capacity and reliability concerns may have or are
anticipated to contribute to shortages of petroleum products
or price disruptions. Upon identifying such areas, the
Secretaries may determine if the current level of regulation
is sufficient to minimize the potential for unplanned losses
of pipeline capacity.
``(b) Consultation.--In preparing any analysis under this
section, the Secretaries may consult with the heads of other
government agencies and public- and private-sector experts in
pipeline and other forms of petroleum product transportation,
energy consumption, pipeline capacity, population, and
economic development.
``(c) Report to Congress.--Not later than June 1, 2008, the
Secretaries shall submit to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce and the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a
report setting forth their recommendations to reduce the
likelihood of the shortages and price disruptions referred to
in subsection (a).
``(d) Additional Reports.--The Secretaries shall submit
additional reports to the congressional committees referred
to in subsection (c) containing the results of any subsequent
analyses performed under subsection (a) and any additional
recommendations, as appropriate.
``(e) Petroleum Product Defined.--In this section, the term
`petroleum product' means oil of any kind or in any form,
gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, fuel oil, kerosene, any
product obtained from refining or processing of crude oil,
liquefied petroleum gases, natural gas liquids, petrochemical
feedstocks, condensate, waste or refuse mixtures containing
any of such oil products, and any other liquid hydrocarbon
compounds.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 601 (as
amended by sections 2(b) and 6 of this Act) is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``60136. Petroleum product transportation capacity study.''.
SEC. 9. DISTRIBUTION INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM RULEMAKING
DEADLINE.
Section 60109 is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(e) Distribution Integrity Management Programs.--
``(1) Minimum standards.--Not later than December 31, 2007,
the Secretary shall prescribe minimum standards for integrity
management programs for distribution pipelines.
``(2) Additional authority of secretary.--In carrying out
this subsection, the Secretary may require operators of
distribution pipelines to continually identify and assess
risks on their distribution lines, to remediate conditions
that present a potential threat to line integrity, and to
monitor program effectiveness.
``(3) Excess flow valves.--
``(A) In general.--The minimum standards shall include a
requirement for an operator of a natural gas distribution
system to install an excess flow valve on each single family
residence service line connected to such system if--
``(i) the service line is installed or entirely replaced
after June 1, 2008;
``(ii) the service line operates continuously throughout
the year at a pressure not less than 10 pounds per square
inch gauge;
``(iii) the service line is not connected to a gas stream
with respect to which the operator has had prior experience
with contaminants the presence of which could interfere with
the operation of an excess flow valve;
``(iv) the installation of an excess flow valve on the
service line is not likely to cause loss of service to the
residence or interfere with necessary operation or
maintenance activities, such as purging liquids from the
service line; and
``(v) an excess flow valve meeting performance standards
developed under section 60110(e) of title 49, United States
Code, is
[[Page H8837]]
commercially available to the operator, as determined by the
Secretary.
``(B) Reports.--Operators of natural gas distribution
systems shall report annually to the Secretary on the number
of excess flow valves installed on their systems under
subparagraph (A).
``(4) Applicability.--The Secretary shall determine which
distribution pipelines will be subject to the minimum
standards.
``(5) Development and implementation.--Each operator of a
distribution pipeline that the Secretary determines is
subject to the minimum standards prescribed by the Secretary
under this subsection shall develop and implement an
integrity management program in accordance with those
standards.
``(6) Savings clause.--Subject to section 60104(c), a State
authority having a current certification under section 60105
may adopt or continue in force additional integrity
management requirements, including additional requirements
for installation of excess flow valves, for gas distribution
pipelines within the boundaries of that State.''.
SEC. 10. EMERGENCY WAIVERS.
Section 60118(c) is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Waivers by Secretary.--
``(1) Nonemergency waivers.--
``(A) In general.--On application of an owner or operator
of a pipeline facility, the Secretary by order may waive
compliance with any part of an applicable standard prescribed
under this chapter with respect to such facility on terms the
Secretary considers appropriate if the Secretary determines
that the waiver is not inconsistent with pipeline safety.
``(B) Hearing.--The Secretary may act on a waiver under
this paragraph only after notice and an opportunity for a
hearing.
``(2) Emergency waivers.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary by order may waive
compliance with any part of an applicable standard prescribed
under this chapter on terms the Secretary considers
appropriate without prior notice and comment if the Secretary
determines that--
``(i) it is in the public interest to grant the waiver;
``(ii) the waiver is not inconsistent with pipeline safety;
and
``(iii) the waiver is necessary to address an actual or
impending emergency involving pipeline transportation,
including an emergency caused by a natural or manmade
disaster.
``(B) Period of waiver.--A waiver under this paragraph may
be issued for a period of not more than 60 days and may be
renewed upon application to the Secretary only after notice
and an opportunity for a hearing on the waiver. The Secretary
shall immediately revoke the waiver if continuation of the
waiver would not be consistent with the goals and objectives
of this chapter.
``(3) Statement of reasons.--The Secretary shall state in
an order issued under this subsection the reasons for
granting the waiver.''.
SEC. 11. RESTORATION OF OPERATIONS.
Section 60117 is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(m) Restoration of Operations.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may advise, assist, and
cooperate with the heads of other departments, agencies, and
instrumentalities of the United States Government, the
States, and public and private agencies and persons to
facilitate the restoration of pipeline operations that have
been or are anticipated to become disrupted by manmade or
natural disasters.
``(2) Savings clause.--Nothing in this section alters or
amends the authorities and responsibilities of any
department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States
Government, other than the Department of Transportation.''.
SEC. 12. PIPELINE CONTROL ROOM MANAGEMENT.
(a) In General.--Chapter 601 (as amended by sections 2(b),
6, and 8 of this Act) is further amended by adding at the end
the following:
``Sec. 60137. Pipeline control room management
``(a) In General.--Not later than June 1, 2008, the
Secretary shall issue regulations requiring each operator of
a gas or hazardous liquid pipeline to develop, implement, and
submit to the Secretary or, in the case of an operator of an
intrastate pipeline located within the boundaries of a State
that has in effect an annual certification under section
60105, to the head of the appropriate State authority, a
human factors management plan designed to reduce risks
associated with human factors, including fatigue, in each
control center for the pipeline. Each plan must include,
among the measures to reduce such risks, a maximum limit on
the hours of service established by the operator for
individuals employed as controllers in a control center for
the pipeline.
``(b) Review and Approval of the Plan.--The Secretary or,
in the case of an operator of an intrastate pipeline located
within the boundaries of a State that has in effect an annual
certification under section 60105, the head of the
appropriate State authority, shall review and approve each
plan submitted to the Secretary or the head of such authority
under subsection (a). The Secretary and the head of such
authority may not approve a plan that does not include a
maximum limit on the hours of service established by the
operator of the pipeline for individuals employed as
controllers in a control center for the pipeline.
``(c) Enforcement of the Plan.--If the Secretary or the
head of the appropriate State authority determines that an
operator's plan submitted to the Secretary or the head of
such authority under subsection (a), or implementation of
such a plan, does not comply with the regulations issued
under this section or is inadequate for the safe operation of
a pipeline, the Secretary or the head of such authority may
take action consistent with this chapter and enforce the
requirements of such regulations.
``(d) Compliance With the Plan.--Each operator of a gas or
hazardous liquid pipeline shall document compliance with the
plan submitted by the operator under subsection (a) and the
reasons for any deviation from compliance with such plan. The
Secretary or the head of the appropriate State authority, as
the case may be, shall review the reasonableness of any such
deviation in considering whether to take enforcement action
or discontinue approval of the operator's plan under
subsection (b).
``(e) Deviation Reporting Requirements.--In issuing
regulations under subsection (a), the Secretary shall develop
and include in such regulations requirements for an operator
of a gas or hazardous liquid pipeline to report deviations
from compliance with the plan submitted by the operator under
subsection (a).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 601 (as
amended by sections 2(b), 6, and 8 of this Act) is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``60137. Pipeline control room management.''.
SEC. 13. SAFETY ORDERS.
Section 60117(l) is amended to read as follows:
``(l) Safety Orders.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than December 31, 2007, the
Secretary shall issue regulations providing that, after
notice and opportunity for a hearing, if the Secretary
determines that a pipeline facility has a condition that
poses a pipeline integrity risk to public safety, property,
or the environment, the Secretary may order the operator of
the facility to take necessary corrective action, including
physical inspection, testing, repair, or other appropriate
action, to remedy that condition.
``(2) Considerations.--In making a determination under
paragraph (1), the Secretary, if relevant and pursuant to the
regulations issued under paragraph (1), shall consider--
``(A) the considerations specified in paragraphs (1)
through (6) of section 60112(b);
``(B) the likelihood that the condition will impair the
serviceability of a pipeline;
``(C) the likelihood that the condition will worsen over
time; and
``(D) the likelihood that the condition is present or could
develop on other areas of the pipeline.''.
SEC. 14. INTEGRITY PROGRAM ENFORCEMENT.
Section 60109(c)(9)(A)(iii) is amended to read as follows:
``(iii) Inadequate programs.--If the Secretary determines
that a risk analysis or integrity management program does not
comply with the requirements of this subsection or
regulations issued as described in paragraph (2), has not
been adequately implemented, or is inadequate for the safe
operation of a pipeline facility, the Secretary may conduct
proceedings under this chapter.''.
SEC. 15. INCIDENT REPORTING.
Not later than December 31, 2007, the Secretary of
Transportation shall review the incident reporting
requirements for operators of natural gas pipelines and
modify the reporting criteria as appropriate to ensure that
the incident data gathered accurately reflects incident
trends over time, taking into consideration the
recommendations from the Comptroller General in GAO report
06-946.
SEC. 16. SENIOR EXECUTIVE SIGNATURE OF INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM PERFORMANCE REPORTS.
Section 60109 (as amended by section 9 of this Act) is
further amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Certification of Pipeline Integrity Management
Program Performance.--The Secretary shall establish
procedures requiring certification of annual and semiannual
pipeline integrity management program performance reports by
a senior executive officer of the company operating a
pipeline subject to this chapter. The procedures shall
require a signed statement, which may be effected
electronically in accordance with the provisions of the
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.), certifying that--
``(1) the signing officer has reviewed the report; and
``(2) to the best of such officer's knowledge and belief,
the report is true and complete.''.
SEC. 17. COST RECOVERY FOR DESIGN REVIEWS.
Section 60117 (as amended by section 11 of this Act) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(n) Cost Recovery for Design Reviews.--
``(1) In general.--If the Secretary conducts facility
design safety reviews in connection with a proposal to
construct, expand, or operate a liquefied natural gas
pipeline facility, the Secretary may require the person
requesting such reviews to pay the associated staff costs
relating to such reviews incurred by the Secretary in section
60301(d). The Secretary may assess such costs in any
reasonable manner.
``(2) Deposit.--The Secretary shall deposit all funds paid
to the Secretary under this
[[Page H8838]]
subsection into the Department of Treasury account 69-5172-0-
2-407 or its successor account.
``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--Funds deposited
pursuant to this subsection are authorized to be appropriated
for the purposes set forth in section 60301(d).''.
SEC. 18. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Gas and Hazardous Liquid.--Section 60125(a) is amended
to read as follows:
``(a) Gas and Hazardous Liquid.--
``(1) In general.--To carry out the provisions of this
chapter related to gas and hazardous liquid and section 12 of
the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C. 60101
note; Public Law 107-355), the following amounts are
authorized to be appropriated to the Department of
Transportation from fees collected under section 60301 in
each respective year:
``(A) For fiscal year 2007, $60,175,000 of which $7,386,000
is for carrying out such section 12 and $17,556,000 is for
making grants.
``(B) For fiscal year 2008, $67,118,000 of which $7,586,000
is for carrying out such section 12 and $20,614,000 is for
making grants.
``(C) For fiscal year 2009, $72,045,000 of which $7,586,000
is for carrying out such section 12 and $21,513,000 is for
making grants.
``(D) For fiscal year 2010, $76,580,000 of which $7,586,000
is for carrying out subsection 12 and $22,252,000 is for
making grants.
``(2) Trust fund amounts.--In addition to the amounts
authorized to be appropriated by paragraph (1) the following
amounts are authorized from the Oil Spill Liability Trust
Fund to carry out the provisions of this chapter related to
hazardous liquid and section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C. 60101 note; Public Law
107-355):
``(A) For fiscal year 2007, $18,810,000 of which $4,207,000
is for carrying out such section 12 and $2,682,000 is for
making grants.
``(B) For fiscal year 2008, $19,000,000 of which $4,207,000
is for carrying out such section 12 and $2,682,000 is for
making grants.
``(C) For fiscal year 2009, $19,500,000 of which $4,207,000
is for carrying out such section 12 and $3,103,000 is for
making grants.
``(D) For fiscal year 2010, $20,000,000 of which $4,207,000
is for carrying out such section 12 $3,603,000 is for making
grants.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 60125 is amended--
(1) by striking subsections (b) and (c); and
(2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections
(b) and (c), respectively.
(c) Emergency Response Grants.--Section 60125(b) (as
redesignated by subsection (b)(2) of this section) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1) by adding at the end the following:
``To the extent that such grants are used to train emergency
responders, such training shall ensure that emergency
responders have the ability to protect nearby persons,
property, and the environment from the effects of accidents
or incidents involving gas or hazardous liquid pipelines, in
accordance with existing regulations.''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``$6,000,000'' and inserting
``$10,000,000''; and
(B) by striking ``2003 through 2006'' and inserting ``2007
through 2010''.
(d) One-Call Notification Programs.--Section 6107 is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a) by striking ``fiscal years 2003
through 2006'' and inserting ``fiscal years 2007 through
2010''; and
(2) in subsection (b) by striking ``for fiscal years 2003
through 2006'' and inserting ``for fiscal years 2007 through
2010''.
(e) Inspector Staffing.--The Secretary shall ensure that
the number of positions for pipeline inspection and
enforcement personnel at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration does not fall below 100 for fiscal year
2007, 111 for fiscal year 2008, 123 for fiscal year 2009, and
135 for fiscal year 2010.
SEC. 19. STANDARDS TO IMPLEMENT NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS.
Not later than June 1, 2008, the Secretary of
Transportation shall issue standards that implement the
following recommendations contained in the National
Transportation Safety Board's report entitled ``Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) in Liquid Pipelines''
and adopted November 29, 2005:
(1) Implementation of the American Petroleum Institute's
Recommended Practice 165 for the use of graphics on the
supervisory control and data acquisition screens.
(2) Implementation of a standard for pipeline companies to
review and audit alarms on monitoring equipment.
(3) Implementation of standards for pipeline controller
training that include simulator or noncomputerized
simulations for controller recognition of abnormal pipeline
operating conditions, in particular, leak events.
SEC. 20. ACCIDENT REPORTING FORM.
Not later than December 31, 2007, the Secretary of
Transportation shall amend accident reporting forms to
require operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines to
provide data related to controller fatigue.
SEC. 21. LEAK DETECTION TECHNOLOGY STUDY.
Not later than December 31, 2007, the Secretary of
Transportation shall submit to Congress a report on leak
detection systems utilized by operators of hazardous liquid
pipelines. The report shall include a discussion of the
inadequacies of current leak detection systems, including
their ability to detect ruptures and small leaks that are
ongoing or intermittent, and what can be done to foster
development of better technologies as well as address
existing technological inadequacies.
SEC. 22. CORROSION CONTROL REGULATIONS.
(a) Review.--The Secretary of Transportation, in
consultation with the Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline
Safety Standards Committee and other appropriate entities,
shall review the internal corrosion control regulations set
forth in subpart H of part 195 of title 49 of the Code of
Federal Regulations to determine if such regulations are
currently adequate to ensure that the pipeline facilities
subject to such regulations will not present a hazard to
public safety or the environment.
(b) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2007, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing the
results of the review and may modify the regulations referred
to in subsection (a) if necessary and appropriate.
SEC. 23. INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT.
(a) Assessment.--Not later than December 31, 2007, the
Inspector General of the Department of Transportation shall
conduct an assessment of the actions the Department has taken
in implementing the annex to the memorandum of understanding
between the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of
Homeland Security, dated September 28, 2004, relating to
pipeline security.
(b) Specified Duties of Inspector General.-- In carrying
out the assessment, the Inspector General shall--
(1) provide a status report on implementation of the
program elements outlined and developed in the annex;
(2) describe the roles, responsibilities, and authority of
the Department of Transportation relating to pipeline
security;
(3) assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the process by
which the Department of Transportation has communicated and
coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security on
matters relating to pipeline security;
(4) address the adequacy of security standards for gas and
oil pipelines in coordination, as necessary, with the
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security; and
(5) consider any other issues determined to be appropriate
by the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation
or the Secretary of Transportation.
(c) Assessment Report and Periodic Status Updates.--
(1) Assessment report.--Not later than December 31, 2007,
the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation
shall transmit a report on the results of the assessment,
together with any recommendations (including legislative
options for Congress to consider), to the Committees on
Transportation and Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(2) Periodic status reports.--The Inspector General shall
transmit periodically to the Committees as referred to in
paragraph (1), as necessary and appropriate, reports on
matters pertaining to the implementation by the Department of
Transportation of any recommendations contained in the report
transmitted pursuant to paragraph (1).
(d) Format.--The report, or portions of the report, under
subsection (c)(1) may be submitted in a classified format if
the Inspector General determines that such action is
necessary.
SEC. 24. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation may award,
through a competitive process, grants to universities with
expertise in pipeline safety and security to establish
jointly a collaborative program to conduct pipeline safety
and technical assistance programs.
(b) Duties.--In cooperation with the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration and representatives from
States and boards of public utilities, the participants in
the collaborative program established under subsection (a)
shall be responsible for development of workforce training
and technical assistance programs through statewide and
regional partnerships that provide for--
(1) communication of national, State, and local safety
information to pipeline operators;
(2) distribution of technical resources and training to
support current and future Federal mandates; and
(3) evaluation of program outcomes.
(c) Training and Educational Materials.--The collaborative
program established under subsection (a) may include courses
in recent developments, techniques, and procedures related
to--
(1) safety and security of pipeline systems;
(2) incident and risk management for such systems;
(3) integrity management for such systems;
(4) consequence modeling for such systems;
(5) detection of encroachments and monitoring of rights-of-
way for such systems; and
(6) vulnerability assessment of such systems at both
project and national levels.
(d) Reports.--
(1) University.--Not later than March 31, 2009, the
universities awarded grants under subsection (a) shall submit
to the Secretary a report on the results of the collaborative
program.
[[Page H8839]]
(2) Secretary.--Not later than October 1, 2009, the
Secretary shall transmit the reports submitted to the
Secretary under paragraph (1), along with any findings,
recommendations, or legislative options for Congress to
consider, to the Committees on Transportation and
Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out
this section for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2010.
SEC. 25. NATURAL GAS PIPELINES.
The Secretary of Transportation shall review and comment on
the Comptroller General report issued under section 14(d)(1)
of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60109 note; 116 Stat. 3005), and not later than 60 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, transmit to Congress any
legislative recommendations the Secretary considers necessary
and appropriate to implement the conclusions of that report.
SEC. 26. CORROSION TECHNOLOGY.
Section 12 of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002
(49 U.S.C. 60101 note; Public Law 107-355) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(2) by striking ``corrosion,'';
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (9);
(B) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11);
(C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
``(10) corrosion detection and improving methods, best
practices, and technologies for identifying, detecting,
preventing, and managing internal and external corrosion and
other safety risks; and''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``The results of activities carried out under paragraph (10)
shall be used by the participating agencies to support
development and improvement of national consensus
standards.''; and
(3) by striking subsection (f) and redesignating
subsections (g) and (h) as subsections (f) and (g),
respectively.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Alaska (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alaska.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago Congress passed the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act for 2002. The States and the pipeline community have
praised that bill as an overwhelming success.
That is why H.R. 5782, the Pipeline Inspection Protection Enforcement
and Safety Act of 2006, keeps us moving in the same positive direction
as the 2002 pipeline bill.
I want to thank my ranking member, Democrat Member Mr. Oberstar, for
working closely with me to develop this legislation. Also, Mr. DeFazio
has worked very closely with us. We could not have accomplished this
result without our subcommittee chairman, Tom Petri, and of course I
just mentioned Mr. Peter DeFazio.
I want to also thank the chairman of the Energy and Commerce
Committee, Joe Barton, and my very good friend and colleague, ranking
Democrat, John Dingell for their excellent work to bring this bill to
this point.
In September the Energy and Commerce Committee also ordered the bill
reported with their amendment. We have worked with our friends on the
Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as the other body, to come up
with a bill that they will support also.
The bill we are considering here today has been negotiated with the
Senate Commerce Committee, and the other body is expected to pass the
bill later this week.
I have been very impressed with the work of the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which is often called PHMSA,
and their administrator, Admiral Tom Barrett.
Their response to and oversight of pipeline spills on the North Slope
in Alaska this past year have received widespread praise.
We were very careful in drafting this bill to avoid disrupting the
hard work and remarkable progress that occurred at PHMSA over the past
4 years.
Like all legislation, this bill contains compromises. The policies in
this bill are the result of compromise and hard work. However, the
compromise that we have reached in this bill will not take away from
the impact of this bill.
This is a good bill. It improves pipeline safety and the role of the
administration regulating pipelines.
H.R. 5782 extends the pipeline safety program for another 4 years. To
the fiscal year of 2010. These programs include operational funds for
the Office of Pipeline Safety to carry out its regulatory and
enforcement functions, and State pipeline safety grants that cover the
cost of State expenses to carry out certified pipeline safety inspect
activities.
The bill also funds emergency response grants, public education and
one-call damage prevention programs and grants to provide technical
assistance to local communities on pipeline safety issues.
The administration, the States, the pipeline safety advocates and the
pipeline industry all support this bill.
I strongly support this legislation to protect public safety, and I
encourage my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 5782, Pipeline Inspection Protection
Enforcement Safety Act of 2006.
We have come a long way since the original legislation was passed in
2002. After the tragedies in Bellingham, Washington, in which committee
Member Rick Larsen played a particularly key role in urging the
committee forward, and Carlsbad, New Mexico, we had quite a contentious
markup at that point in time, with a lot of resistance from what we saw
as needed improvements in pipeline safety from the industry.
Not so this time around. In fact, there was broad consensus with the
majority side, with the majority of the industry from the beginning,
that we wanted to make some additional improvements in pipeline safety
with this bill, but that a radical new approach was not warranted
because we had already laid that groundwork with the 2002 bill.
{time} 1715
The gentleman from the Energy and Commerce Committee will address in
some detail the work done and improved upon in their committee relating
to the pipeline, low-stress pipelines, which had been substantially
exempt from regulation previously. Unfortunately, that led to some
neglect on the part of BP in Alaska, and we had the largest North Slope
oil spill because of a low pressure line which previously had been
thought not to be of major concern, and in fact the company itself
admitted they had been running the lines to failure.
Well, lines nowhere will be run to failure any more under this bill.
We are going to have more pipeline inspectors, more enforcement. We are
going to broaden the legislation to cover all pipelines and, you know,
this will also have the Inspector General paying closer attention to
some of the implementation of this legislation.
I want to thank my chairman, Mr. Petri, for his help in putting this
together, Chairman Young, Ranking Member Oberstar and members of the
committee.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. At this time I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), the chairman of the subcommittee on this
legislation.
Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago this Congress passed the Pipeline
Safety Improvement Act of 2002. That piece of legislation expired
September 30. The bill before us, H.R. 5782, reauthorizes the Federal
pipeline safety programs through 2010 and amends existing pipeline
safety law to enhance the safety and reliability of transporting the
Nation's energy products by pipelines.
By all accounts, the 2002 safety bill was an overwhelming success
and, therefore, this bill does not deviate from the directions set
forth in that legislation. This bill provides the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration with new civil penalty
authority to enforce One-Call laws in States that do not adequately
enforce those laws.
This enforcement authority is balanced in the sense that it could be
used on an operator who fails to respond to a pipeline location request
or fails to accurately mark the location of a pipeline, as well as an
excavator who fails to use the One-Call system or disregards location
information or markings.
[[Page H8840]]
The bill also provides incentives to States to adopt and implement a
comprehensive State damage prevention program and provides guidance to
States on elements for an effective underground damage program. The
bill requires the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration to establish a distribution and integrity management
program which pipeline operators must implement and requires that the
administration develop regulations for the operation of low stress
hazardous liquid pipelines. This bill also directs the administration
to develop standards to reduce risks in pipeline control rooms
associated with human factors, including operator fatigue.
I am happy to say that this bill has received broad support from the
administration, the States, the pipeline safety advocates, and others
in the pipeline community. It is also important to point out that this
bill was developed in conjunction with the House Energy and Commerce
Committee. In addition, the Senate Commerce Committee supports this
bill and is scheduled to take it up before the end of the week.
Mr. Speaker, I support this important legislation. Before I yield
back the balance of my time, and as this may be the final bill from the
Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines to be considered here
on the floor of our House this Congress, I would just like to take a
moment to pay tribute to my chairman, Don Young from Alaska, to salute
his 6 years of leadership on our committee. I have enjoyed serving as
part of his team on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
I would also like to say to my colleagues on the Democratic side of
the aisle, Mr. Oberstar and Mr. Peter DeFazio, that I believe we have
done some good work during this Congress, and I look forward to
continuing to work together to accomplish good things for the country
in the 110th Congress.
Finally, I would like to say a word of thank you for a job well done
to the staff of the subcommittee, who have labored diligently on our
subcommittee matters. On the Republican side, Graham Hill, Jim Tymon,
Joyce Rose, Suzanne Newhouse, Bailey Edwards and Tim Lindquist. On the
Democratic side, Ken House, Art Chan, Stephanie Manning and Jackie
Schmitz. Thank you for a job well done.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Boucher).
(Mr. BOUCHER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. BOUCHER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support this evening of H.R. 5782, the
Pipeline Safety Improvement Act, and urge its approval by the House.
This measure is both important and timely. It modernizes the Pipeline
Safety Act of 2002, which, while regarded as successful, now should be
expanded to address some new urgent needs.
For example, there have been two instances in the recent past of
major oil spills from low pressure transmission lines in Alaska. The
most recent spill necessitated shutting down for an extended time a
substantial portion of the oil flow from Alaska to the lower 48 States.
These spills, which were much publicized, highlighted the need for
regulation of the low stress transmission lines which are currently
exempt from all regulation. The bill before us today subjects low
stress transmission lines to Federal regulation and addresses that
urgent need.
As another example of needed change, the bill contains incentives for
all States to adopt programs to prevent damage to pipelines from
excavation work. The damage prevention program that is now in place in
my State of Virginia has been a demonstrated success in dramatically
reducing the incidents of excavation damage to pipelines.
The bill before us specifies that the nine elements that are found in
this very successful Virginia law, which are widely recognized as
enabling that success, should be included in State damage prevention
programs as a condition for States being certified by the U.S.
Department of Transportation to regulate and enforce their States'
pipeline standards.
The bill also creates a new grant program for States to implement
excavation damage prevention programs which include each of those nine
elements.
Another new provision will require the implementation of integrity
management plans for natural gas distribution lines, which are
currently exempt from regulation. Distribution lines account for more
than 85 percent of all natural gas lines in the United States. The bill
before us directs that in 2007 the Office of Pipeline Safety publish a
rule addressing integrity management for distribution lines.
To its credit, that office has work well under way to create the
first management plan for natural gas distribution lines, and I commend
the consensus-based approach that the office is taking to achieve its
goal, and the fine work that the office has performed so far in pursuit
of that effort.
At my urging, the 2002 act included a provision authorizing technical
assistance grants for local communities so that they will have the
expertise to participate meaningfully in regulatory proceedings that
affect transmission lines and other pipelines. I have been disappointed
that during the past 4 years no grants have been awarded under that
authority. The bill before us directs the Department to publish
criteria for the award of grants and to make at least three
demonstration community assistance technical grants in the near term.
Finally, the bill authorizes the funding necessary for the Department
of Transportation to hire an additional 45 safety inspectors so as to
augment the safety advances the bill otherwise makes.
In September, the Energy and Commerce Committee, which shares
jurisdiction over pipelines and over this measure, approved this
measure by voice vote. That effort was truly bipartisan, and I want to
commend Chairman Barton of the Energy and Commerce Committee,
Subcommittee Chairman Hall and Ranking Member Dingell of the full
committee for the constructive work that produced H.R. 5782.
I also want to commend Chairman Young, Ranking Member Oberstar, Mr.
Petri and Mr. DeFazio of the Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, which shares jurisdiction over this measure with the House
Energy and Commerce Committee, for their fine work in bringing this
measure to the floor today.
The 2002 law has produced positive results with an increased emphasis
on safety and accident prevention, both by the agencies of enforcement
and by industry. The bill before us usefully builds on that success.
Mr. Speaker, I urge its approval by the House.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield
2 minutes to my good friend from Texas (Mr. Hall).
Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of our consensus substitute
to H.R. 5782, the Pipeline Protection Inspection, Protection,
Enforcement, and Safety Act of 2006. This legislation reflects
bipartisan, bicameral agreement on reauthorizing the Nation's pipeline
safety laws, and I am really glad to see it up for consideration in the
House today.
I am very hopeful that the Senate will also quickly consider this
measure, as this amended legislation reflects changes made to ensure
passage of this bill in the Senate.
I thank Chairman Barton, Ranking Member Dingell, Chairman Young and
Ranking Member Oberstar for their open process and for working together
to reconcile these two bills.
This legislation sets out many new provisions that will help to
strengthen an already strong job that is being done by DOT's Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. It adds provisions to
encourage and award States to adopt a One-Call notification system
before digging or excavating work begins, addressing one of the only
rising trends in pipeline accidents. It further addresses a low stress
line exemption that allows pipelines like the ones in Alaska Prudhoe
Bay oil field, operated by BP, to go unregulated and unaccounted for
years while preserving DOT's flexibility in enforcing these new
regulations. It also preserves current exemptions for gathering lines
and lines affecting production facilities.
All of these provisions reflect careful compromise with industry,
with pipeline operation safety and environmental groups, administration
and the
[[Page H8841]]
States. It is cognizant of the critical and intentionally quiet role
pipelines play in fueling this Nation's economy, and adopts provisions
that reflect this delicate balance.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Could I inquire as to time remaining, please?
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Latham). The gentleman from Oregon has
12 minutes remaining, and the gentleman from Alaska has 12\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).
(Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5782. I must say
that Mr. Young and Mr. Oberstar deserve a lot of credit, because in the
Transportation Department there was more coming together than I have
seen in any place in this Congress. This was not an easy piece of
legislation. You go back to 2002, we had some really good debates. We
had some good arguments. We had real dissent.
I want to thank Mr. Petri and Mr. DeFazio for getting over that
hurdle. We got 2.3 million miles of natural gas in hazardous liquid
pipelines. If that sets in, you know how critical these issues are. We
could be stuck in the mud debating each other or we could get over the
hump and try to get resolve. You did that, and I want to commend you,
Mr. Young. I am not patronizing. I am not a patronizing person when I
say that to you.
For years many in Congress attempted to pass the legislation to give
the Office of Pipeline Safety some real teeth and enforcement to adopt
better and tighter safety regulations. In 2002, as was mentioned, we
passed a very strong pipeline safety law. By all accounts OPS and the
industry have made significant progress since then.
The national mapping system has now been completed. When we looked at
that mapping system at the turn of the century, it was a disaster. We
didn't know where these pipelines were in the first place. How are you
going to fix them if you don't know where they are?
One-Call centers are prevalent throughout the Nation and their ``dig
safely'' campaigns are well publicized.
Number three, I would also like to commend the OPS for actually
meeting the deadlines. Man, that is something new and refreshing,
placed in the 2002 act, and for promptly following up to complete all
the regulation recommendations that were suggested.
The Inspector General found evidence that the OPS enforcement program
is actually helping to improve pipeline safety. I am pleased to know
that the integrity management program is working as well.
Thousands of threats have already been found and corrected, but there
are still hundreds of thousands of miles to go.
{time} 1730
The bill before us today builds upon past successes, while looking
forward toward our future needs. I am extremely pleased that a long
overdue memorandum of understanding on pipeline security between the
DLT and the Department of Homeland Security was signed this fall. This
has everything to do with the protection of the national security.
This legislation requires the Transportation Department's Inspector
General to conduct an assessment of the actions taken by the Department
to implement the agreement. H.R. 5782 will ensure that the number of
pipeline inspection enforcement personnel will increase by 50 percent
within 4 years.
Pipes also caused the Department of Transportation to issue
regulations for low-stress pipelines, making a more comprehensive and
cohesive pipeline safety standard.
Finally, under this bill, Mr. Speaker, the DLT will publish
regulations developed in partnership with the industry stakeholders,
strengthening the safety of natural gas distribution pipeline system.
I commend the leaders and the membership of the Transportation
Committee for their diligent work, and I urge my colleagues to vote in
favor of H.R. 5782.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Boehlert).
Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, and I just
want to draw attention briefly to one important item.
This bill amends the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 over
which the Science Committee shares jurisdiction. That act provides for
an inter-agency research program on pipeline safety, and that program
has proved quite fruitful. This bill maintains that program and even
clarifies and expands some of its tasks.
What this bill does not do is provide explicit authorization levels
for the work that the National Institutes of Standards and Technology
will need to do to carry out its portion of this program. The language,
which originated in the other body, excluded funding for NIST because
NIST funding has not been independently appropriated but, rather, has
been provided by the Department of Transportation to carry out
particular tasks. We on the Science Committee are fine with this
arrangement. But I want to say explicitly here that we expect NIST to
continue to receive funding from DOT to carry out its vital work on
pipeline safety and standards.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Barrow).
Mr. BARROW. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I want to express my gratitude today to Chairman Young
and Ranking Member Oberstar and to the chairman of the Subcommittee on
Highways, Transit and Pipelines, Mr. Petri, and the ranking member, Mr.
DeFazio, for working with me to include an amendment I offered in the
committee's markup of this bill last summer. I also want to thank the
International Association of Firefighters for supporting this
amendment, and Jennifer Esposito with the Transportation Committee for
her hard work on this bill and the amendment.
The amendment included in this legislation increases the emergency
response grant program by $4 million a year to a total of $10 million a
year. The amendment also requires training standards to make sure that
emergency responders have the training they need to protect nearby
people, property and the environment from the effects of accidents or
incidents involving gas or hazardous liquid pipelines.
I have a letter of support for this amendment from the International
Association of Firefighters, and I will include this letter in the
Record.
Mr. Speaker, this is important legislation to make our communities
safer, and it gives first responders the training and resources they
need. I encourage all my colleagues to support it.
International Association of
Fire Fighters,
Washington, DC, July 19,2006.
Hon. John Barrow,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Barrow: On behalf of the Nation's more
than 270,000 professional fire fighters and emergency medical
personnel, I applaud you for your efforts to improve
emergency response to accidents involving gas or hazardous
liquid pipelines. We strongly support your amendment to H.R.
5782, the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act, to require strong
emergency responder training standards, as well as your
amendment to provide additional funding for emergency
response grants.
While the safety of emergency responders can never be fully
guaranteed, the number of injuries resulting from gas or
hazardous liquid accidents can be significantly reduced
through appropriate training. While training is always
necessary for new recruits, refresher training must also be
provided on a continuing basis to ensure the ongoing safety
of all first responders.
Furthermore, in responding to an incident involving
hazardous materials, it is extremely important that emergency
responders are not simply trained, but are trained at a level
appropriate to their response. Unfortunately, the level of
training currently provided in many States and localities is
inadequate to prepare emergency responders to respond to an
accident involving gas or other hazardous materials. Your
amendments not only help provide adequate. funding to ensure
that all emergency responders are trained, but ensure that
responders are trained to contain any release from a safe
distance, keep it from spreading, and prevent people,
property and the environment from harmful exposures.
Thank you for your leadership on these vital issues. We
appreciate your continued support of our Nation's first
responders and look forward to working with you in the coming
weeks to enhance hazardous materials emergency response.
Sincerely,
Barry Kasinitz,
Director, Governmental Affairs.
[[Page H8842]]
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes).
Mr. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Young and others who
have been recognized so far for their diligence, leadership and hard
work on this very important issue.
The safe and reliable operation of our Nation's pipeline system is
key to our security and our energy independence, and I am generally
pleased with the conference report and do support it. I am concerned,
however, by certain aspects of the legislation before us today.
As part of the last pipeline safety authorization, Congress required
natural gas transmission pipeline operators to undertake an integrity
management program. This program required operators to perform initial
baseline inspections on all their pipelines in high consequence, or
highly populated areas, by 2012 and perform reinspections every 7 years
thereafter.
The 7-year period for reinspections was a compromise between two
versions of the legislation and was not based on scientific or
engineering standards. As a result, Congress required the Government
Accountability Office to study the integrity management program and
report back with recommendations as to whether the 7-year reinspection
interval is appropriate from a safety standpoint.
The purpose of requesting the study was to essentially audit the
integrity management program and determine, based on an analysis of
data collected during the baseline inspections, what the optimum period
for conducting reinspections should be.
These reports were issued in September of this year and reached two
important conclusions: The first conclusion was that the integrity
management program for natural gas transmission lines is working well
overall and is making the system safer. Furthermore, few serious
problems are being discovered.
Secondly, the report concludes that a fixed, one-size-fits-all
approach to reinspection is not the safest option. It does not give
operators the flexibility to tailor inspection resources to the
riskiest segments of the pipeline first.
Rather, the GAO recommends switching from a static, fixed-year
reinspection interval, to one based on risk and engineering standards.
Using a risk-based approach factors in the age, location, soil
conditions, climate, metallurgy and changing population near a
pipeline, allowing operators to best utilize limited inspection
resources.
I am strongly concerned that the commonsense recommendations of the
GAO report are not being implemented and that we are passing up an
opportunity to make a good regulatory program work even better.
The conference report does contain a provision requiring the
Secretary of Transportation to report back to Congress within 60 days
of enactment on suggestions for implementing the GAO recommendations. I
hope the committee of jurisdiction will hold hearings on this issue
early next year so that we can receive the Secretary's suggestions.
I look forward to continuing the important work of ensuring the safe
and reliable operation of our Nation's natural gas transmission system.
We must do more to focus resources so that they will have the most
impact.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the
ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr.
Oberstar).
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, just about everything that needs to be said about the
pipeline safety bill has been said, so I will not repeat the details,
the specifics of the legislation. It is a good bill. We have spent a
lot of time in subcommittee, in full committee, and in conferring
between our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the
Energy and Commerce Committee and with the responsible committee in the
other body, and we have finally ironed out the details and have a very
sound framework for the future.
The Office of Pipeline Safety has had a very checkered history. It
has not worked effectively for a very long time, and then it had an
awakening and it got on the right track again. We got the number of
inspectors increased, funding for the system increased, we straightened
out the cooperation, the coordination between the Federal office and
the State offices. Then there was a period of decline.
Now this administration, to their great credit, has designated the
best person in the history of this program to head up the Office of
Pipeline Safety, though it has a longer title now, and that is Admiral
Tom Barrett, who brings Coast Guard discipline and a Coast Guard
organization structure and a Coast Guard safety mindset into the work
of this agency, which is its principal mission, safety.
Admiral Barrett, from the time he walked on to the property, had
conversations with me, as I am sure he did with Chairman Young, and
instilled great confidence in his ability to lead the agency, implement
the law, to give us suggestions on how we can improve the legislative
product and give him the tools that the agency needs to carry out its
mission effectively. And that has certainly been undertaken, and to his
great credit, Admiral Barrett has done a superb job of leadership for
the Office of Pipeline Safety.
The first hearing I held as chairman of the Investigations and
Oversight Subcommittee in 1987 was following a pipeline break and an
extraordinary explosion that killed two people in Moundsview, just
outside my congressional district, when a gasoline pipeline leaked for
days; and at 2 o'clock in the morning a car passing through with a
loose tailpipe hit the pavement, caused a spark, ignited the whole
street, and a mother and her daughter were incinerated in the process.
Why? Because the Office of Pipeline Safety and the pipeline operator
were not doing their jobs.
That is not going to happen casually at least in the future. There
may be some catastrophic failure of some kind, but in place now and
with this legislation, and thanks to Admiral Barrett's oversight, there
is a system of safety in place in this agency. For that, I thank our
subcommittee chairman, Mr. Petri, the ranking member, Mr. DeFazio, our
committee staff on both sides, and Chairman Young.
This may be our last opportunity on the House floor during this
session of Congress for me to pay tribute to the leadership the
gentleman from Alaska has given to our committee over these 6 years.
Forever etched in title 49 of the U.S. Code will be the biggest
transportation investment in a single bill in the history of our
country, and that will be SAFETEA-LU, $286.5 billion, a work product
through which our chairman led us in subcommittee, in full committee,
and in a long and difficult conference with the other body.
I will always remember Chairman Young's courage, Mr. Speaker,
standing before his President, advocating for a robust investment of
$375 billion, as recommended by the Department of Transportation, in
the future of highway and transit needs in America, improved pavement
condition, reduced congestion and improved safety, and standing before
his own Republican Conference and advocating, and staying the course,
not wilting along the wayside when we had to scale that figure back to
the ultimate $286.5 billion, maintaining intact within that legislation
good public policy that will be an enduring legacy for our chairman and
for our committee and for our country.
We go now into the implementation of SAFETEA-LU, awaiting the interim
report of the commission that our committee authorized on the future of
transportation needs in the country and how to finance it. But we will
do so with the blueprint in our hand and lying ahead of us, which was
crafted by this committee under the chairman's leadership.
That and many other items of significant achievement, including the
great investments that our committee has authorized and that are now
being carried out in the U.S. Coast Guard, for which I know the
chairman has a great affinity and which service is so important to his
State of Alaska, but to the thousands of miles of coastline on the salt
water coast and the inland waterways on the Great Lakes of our country.
For his leadership, for his skill, for his courage and standing by
principle, I salute our chairman, and thank him for his service and for
the privilege of
[[Page H8843]]
the partnership that we have enjoyed during these 6 years.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his kind
words. My closing statement will recognize his contributions to what we
have been able to do.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Murphy).
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding, and I
rise in support of H.R. 5782. This bill will save lives. One way it can
save lives is illustrated by a story of two children from my district,
Moon Township, in Pennsylvania.
On March 16, 2005, while walking home from school, two teenagers, a
brother and sister, walked past a construction crew that was drilling
in front of their house. The crew had ruptured a natural gas
distribution line. The children entered the home without knowing that
natural gas was seeping in. Soon afterwards, this house exploded to
look like this. Both children were inside. They escaped. Both were
injured, one seriously, but thankfully both survived.
The explosion occurred because accumulated natural gas fumes had
ignited. When the pipeline was broken, the crew made the calls as
required after they broke the gas line, but the procedures they
followed did not prevent the children's injuries.
These two young children could have been among the more than 420
fatalities from pipeline accidents in the last 20 years. In this case
the notification rules were followed, but the procedures just take too
long. We need a faster, simpler system, one in which emergency
authorities arrive at the scene quickly, and a single clear system, not
the current patchwork of rules that varies State to State and town to
town.
{time} 1745
That is why I worked with the family of the two young children, local
law enforcement and municipal governments and others interested in
pipeline safety to write H.R. 2958, Marc and Chelsea's law. My bill
requires pipeline breaches to be immediately reported to appropriate
safety authorities in order to prevent future injuries.
I am pleased that the Pipeline Safety Act includes my bill's
provisions to establish uniform emergency notifications. With the
passage of today's legislation, an excavator who causes a pipeline
accident must call the local gas distribution company operator. Also,
if there is detectable gas, the excavator must also call 911
immediately.
Establishing consistent notification requirements is critical because
there have been over 7,600 pipeline accidents.
I thank Mr. Barton, Tom Hassenboehler, Mike Layman, Susan Mosychuck
for their help in this bill, but also Marc and Chelsea for their help
as well.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remaining time.
Before I close, Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a moment to thank
the many friends and colleagues that I have in this body that have made
the last 6 years the most successful and enjoyable of my years in
Congress, in 34 years.
While I am looking forward to many more years here in Congress, you
are not going to get rid of me that soon, and I will continue to lead
the charge for those issues near and dear to my heart. I take great
pride in the work of the great Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure over the last 6 years.
We faced some extraordinary challenges in the committee. During this
period of time was September 11, 2001. With the support, and I am sorry
he has left, the support and cooperation of the ranking member,
Congressman Jim Oberstar, we worked together, and within 2 weeks of
this disaster for the aviation industry we enacted legislation to
ensure the continued viability of this key transportation sector.
Without the work of this committee, our aviation system would have
collapsed.
We also created the Transportation Security Administration and worked
to set up the Department of Homeland Security. While I do not support
everything that has happened in DHS, I believe that the efforts of our
committee have ensured a safer and more secure America.
We enacted the first major port security bill. We have improved
pipeline safety, and tonight we will do it again. We enacted a multiple
year aviation bill, reauthorized critical Coast Guard programs,
restored the effectiveness of FEMA and overcame enormous obstacles to
fund the building and maintenance of our highway infrastructure.
I did not accomplish this all alone, and I want to thank my many
friends and supporters in Alaska who sent me to work on their behalf.
Again, I want to thank Jim Oberstar, and for those that may not know
it, we never had a vote in the committee in an adversarial position. We
always worked it out, worked together, and I want to thank all the
other 73 Members of the committee for their cooperation and support. We
have the best reputation of the committees for bipartisanship, and I am
proud of that. I hope we can continue to work that way.
I have a great staff that has worked long and hard to draft
legislation and negotiate on behalf of the committee: Mrs. Megginson,
Graham Hill, who is up in the audience who actually wrote this gas
bill, Jim Tymon who worked on this bill and all the other bills and all
the other staff members I have.
I know the many sacrifices that the staff have made to get the job
done, and I want them to know that I am grateful for their efforts and
very proud of them and for America.
I also want to thank my many friends here in Washington who have
taken the time to keep me informed and support our efforts to enact
good transportation policy.
I finally want to thank my wife, Lu, TEA-LU, a bill that was named
after her, for her close friendship, constant patience, support and
encouragement. She is my inspiration for a legacy of the future of this
Nation.
I look forward to the next 2 years working with this House in the
House of Representatives to achieve great things in the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure. I may not be the ranking member but
I will be on the committee. I will be there, and we can provide for
this Nation.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of
H.R. 5782--the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2006.
I want to thank Chairman Young and Ranking Member Oberstar and my
other colleagues, who brought this vital and important bill to the
floor today.
Pipeline security has gone under the radar in recent years--but there
are critical issues which must be addressed. This bill addresses many
of these problems.
This bill strengthens the ``one-call notification system'' which
allows private citizens and the constructIon industry to quickly and
easily notify utilities and pipeline owners of excavation.
The one-call notification system is vital to protecting these key
resources and critical infrastructure from third-party damage.
Unfortunately, third parties are the number one cause of pipeline
damage--disrupting the economy and putting many in harms way. These
occurrences can easily be prevented and this bill helps do just that.
This bill subjects anyone who does not comply with this system to stiff
action and penalties.
This bill establishes a State Damage Prevention Program--which is a
program which aims to prevent damage to underground infrastructure.
This program will be based at the state level and this bill provides
for a state grant program managed by the Department of Transportation.
This bill improves the management of pipeline infrastructure by
mandating the recommendations set forth by the NTSB--the National
Transportation Safety Board.
The bill will also improve pipeline security by assessing risk
associated with human error and reducing damage from these issues by
specifically providing for training and simulation exercises.
On the technology side, this bill will improve on leak detection
technology and monitoring alarms which will improve safety around
hazardous materials and the pipelines which carry them.
This bill also takes into account environmentally sensitive areas. It
mandates new standards for pipelines in these areas which will aim to
limit or prevent accidents in these susceptible and crucial areas.
This bill also aims to assess and prevent possible gasoline shortages
and price spikes by assessing how future pipeline capacity shortages
might impact the price of gas at the pump.
And finally and most importantly, this bill provides for proper
communications between the Department of Transportation and the
Department of Homeland Security to ensure reliability for these
important and critical assets.
[[Page H8844]]
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5782 as
amended. This is a good bill that reflects considerable work between
the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure.
Pipeline safety is not one of the most high-profile issues that the
Congress deals with but it is one of the most important. Because oil
and gas pipelines are largely out of the public's sight, they are
usually out of mind as well, that is until we have a failure such as,
those several years ago in the State of Washington and New Mexico,
which left several people dead. The shut-in of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska
last August served as a stark reminder of that dire consequences of
non-lethal pipeline accidents.
After the Prudhoe Bay incident I announced that pipeline safety
reauthorization needed to include three important elements: First, the
law needed to be changed to cover low-stress pipelines such as those
that failed in Alaska; second, enforcement needed to be strengthened;
and third, we needed more transparency in DOT's enforcement processes.
I am pleased to report that this bill accomplishes those objectives but
also does much more.
The bill addresses excavation damage--one of the leading causes of
pipeline incidents--through several measures. It requires States with
pipeline safety programs certified by the Department of Transportation
(DOT) to establish a damage prevention program. The bill establishes
grants to States to carry out such programs, and includes new penalty
provisions for those who fail to abide by a State's call-before-you-dig
program.
The bill also requires DOT to prescribe minimum integrity management
standards for gas distribution operators, including a new requirement
that excess flow valves be installed on new service lines. These new
provisions will help strengthen that portion of the gas pipeline system
that is closest to most American homes.
The bill takes a substantial step in making DOT's pipeline safety
enforcement process more transparent to the general public, which has
been a longstanding concern of mine. DOT will now be required to
publish a monthly summary of its enforcement actions on both liquid and
gas pipelines, giving the public valuable insight into areas where
problems exist, and giving pipeline operators a forum to demonstrate
they have been corrected.
The bill before us includes language passed by the Committee on
Energy and Commerce that requires the vast majority of low-stress
liquid lines to be regulated in a manner similar to high-stress liquid
lines. This language responds to the issues raised by the spill on
Alaska's North Slope last spring.
This bill also includes new language to require that pipeline
operators file management plans that set forth a maximum limit on the
hours of service performed by control room employees. I congratulate my
good friend, the gentleman from Minnesota Mr. Oberstar, for his
dedication to this issue.
Finally, the bill authorizes DOT to hire an additional 45 new safety
inspectors to carry out the important responsibilities that we have
assigned to the department in this bill.
I want to thank Chairmen Young and Barton and Ranking Member Oberstar
for all of their efforts on this bill and I urge the House to pass H.R.
5782.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of our consensus
substitute to H.R. 5782, The Pipeline Inspection, Protection,
Enforcement, and Safety Act of 2006. This legislation represents a
broad, consensus-based process that exemplifies what can happen when
different interests come together in order to produce a successful
product.
I thank Chairman Young and Ranking Member Oberstar for working with
Mr. Dingell and myself on reconciling our two bills and for the open
and fair process between the two Committees of jurisdiction.
Reauthorizing the Pipeline Safety laws became more complicated after
BP's inexcusable Prudhoe Bay oilfield shutdown in August. After
rigorous enforcement and analysis, and after a thorough investigation
by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, DOT was able to approve
restart of some of these lines at the Prudhoe Bay oilfield.
This substitute to H.R. 5782 retains compromise language that was
marked up in the Energy and Commerce Committee to address the low
stress pipeline exemption, as well as several other provisions that
were worked out in bipartisan fashion. For example, the bill
strengthens state one-call requirements for excavation damage, provides
new authority and grant money to the states to develop their own damage
prevention programs modeled after the successful programs already in
place, and puts some sunshine on enforcement actions.
The low stress language preserves exemptions for gathering lines,
flow lines, and other integrated pipeline facilities, but removes the
exemption from DOT Part 195 regulation that was used by the BP Prudhoe
Bay transit pipelines. The low stress language should also preserve the
inherent flexibility that is already built into DOT's integrity
management program.
In addition, in crafting the administrative procedures implementing
the safety order authority under sec. 2(f), DOT should provide a
pipeline operator an opportunity to confer with DOT before exercising
the operator's right to a hearing. Informal consultation has the
potential to produce remedies acceptable to both operator and DOT that
will resolve the vast majority of concerns without the need for a
formal hearing. Any action taken by mutual agreement as a result of any
such consultation should be reduced to writing and made both public and
enforceable. This approach will save time and legal costs and bring
about safety improvements sooner.
I urge our friends in the other body to take this bill up and pass it
this week, as it reflects changes that were drafted in order to reach
agreement with the Senate.
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. I rise in full support of the Pipeline
Inspection, Protection, Enforcement and Safety Act of 2006.
This bill is the result of months of hard work. I want to commend
Chairmen Young and Barton and Ranking Members Oberstar and Dingell, as
well as committee staff for the countless hours they put in to get this
bill done.
It was over 7 years ago, on June 10, 1999, that a pipeline explosion
claimed the lives of two 10-year-old boys and an 18-year-old young man
in my district in Bellingham, Washington. Since that time we have made
excellent progress in ensuring the safety of our Nation's pipelines.
The 2002 Pipeline Safety Improvement Act did a lot of good things. It
increased penalty fines, improved pipeline testing timelines, and
allowed for state oversight.
This bill is another step forward.
As a body, we can all be proud that we'll now be regulating low-
stress liquid pipelines just as we regulate all other hazardous liquid
pipes. What happened with BP lines in Alaska this summer shouldn't have
happened and this bill will ensure operators are properly maintaining
their low-stress lines.
I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this bill.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 5782, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds of those voting having
responded in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as
amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________