[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20694]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     PIPELINE SAFETY LEGISLATION AND THE LONGHORN PARTNERS PIPELINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, before the end of the 106th 
Congress, I am hopeful to be able to pass a comprehensive pipeline 
safety bill. On September 7, the Senate unanimously passed the Pipeline 
Safety Improvement Act of 2000. This bill is tough and has many public 
safety provisions. For example, the daily penalty for a violation of 
regulations increases from $25,000 a day to $500,000 a day. In 
addition, pipeline companies must now report spills in excess of five 
gallons as opposed to 50 barrels or 2,100 gallons under current law.
  Other provisions in this bill require pipeline companies to have a 
detailed pipeline integrity plan as well as mandating stronger training 
and qualification requirements. The bill also strengthens the public's 
right to know and provides whistle-blower protections for pipeline 
employees.
  I believe this bill is a good start. Although I would still like to 
include other public safety protections, I understand the need for a 
pipeline safety bill this year. I look forward to working with my 
colleagues on the Committee on Commerce that I serve on but also in the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure if necessary to move 
even more legislation, stronger legislation next year. Pipelines have 
been shown to be a much safer way to transport products than trucks or 
other methods and the current bill increases that safety factor.
  I have also been working with several of my Texas colleagues and 
colleagues in the southwestern United States to secure Federal approval 
of a project called the Longhorn Pipeline. The Longhorn Pipeline begins 
at Galena Park, Texas, in east Harris County in the district I 
represent and goes across Texas for approximately 700 miles to El Paso, 
Texas.
  This pipeline is intended to carry refined petroleum production from 
Houston to southwest markets of the United States in El Paso and 
Midland/Odessa and hopefully beyond. After much delay, the Federal 
Government now seems to be willing to move forward in the process. 
George Frampton, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, has 
recommended the EPA and the Department of Transportation to include the 
analysis of the Longhorn Pipeline project by finishing the 
environmental assessment.
  The many studies and analyses conducted by the Federal Government 
indicate that the extensive mitigation plan supports this action. The 
Longhorn Mitigation Plan protects the environment and all the people 
along the pipeline route and is of a scope and rigor unprecedented in 
the pipeline industry. It includes measures designed to reduce the 
probability of a spill as well as measures designed to provide greater 
protection to the more sensitive areas, including areas where 
communities and drinking water could be affected.
  The Longhorn Pipeline meets or exceeds current statutory, regulatory 
and industry standards. The pipeline would be the safest in the history 
of the United States. I do not make this statement lightly. For 
instance, the mitigation measures are adjusted along the route of the 
pipeline based on the sensitivity of the area. The route was divided 
into approximately 8,000 segments, and the relative sensitivity at each 
segment was determined based on factors including the proximity to 
population centers, drinking water supplies, and protected species 
habitat.
  I cannot begin to understand why the Federal Government has taken 
this long, and to have made such a difficult process in the regulatory 
lag is amazing. We still have time to salvage the good intentions and 
still have the success that was started with this process. But we need 
to act now. I say we, the Federal Government. Since Longhorn filed for 
the pipeline conversion in 1997, two other previous crude-oil-
conversion-to-refined-products pipelines are up and running. I repeat, 
they are up and running with not the mitigation measures that are part 
of this Longhorn Pipeline.
  If we are interested in pipeline safety, we need to encourage 
pipeline companies to establish mitigation measures such as these. 
Working together, we can ensure that pipelines remain a viable 
transportation means while maintaining and improving public safety.

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