[Senate Report 119-102]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 331
119th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 119-102
_______________________________________________________________________
PIPELINE INTEGRITY, PROTECTION, AND ENHANCEMENT FOR LEVERAGING
INVESTMENTS IN THE NATION'S ENERGY TO ASSURE SAFETY ACT OF 2025
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
on
S. 2975
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
February 11, 2026.--Ordered to be printed
------
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
69-010 WASHINGTON : 2026
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
one hundred nineteenth congress
second session
TED CRUZ, Texas, Chairman
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
ROGER F.WICKER, Mississippi AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
JERRY MORAN, Kansas EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
TODD YOUNG, Indiana TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
TED BUDD, North Carolina JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
ERIC SCHMITT, Missouri BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico
JOHN CURTIS, Utah JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado
BERNIE MORENO, Ohio JOHN FETTERMAN, Pennsylvania
TIM SHEEHY, Montana ANDY KIM, New Jersey
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware
CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
Brad Grantz, Majority Staff Director
Lila Harper Helms, Democratic Staff Director
Calendar No. 331
119th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 119-102
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PIPELINE INTEGRITY, PROTECTION, AND ENHANCEMENT FOR LEVERAGING
INVESTMENTS IN THE NATION'S ENERGY TO ASSURE SAFETY ACT OF 2025
----------------
February 11, 2026.--Ordered to be printed
----------------
Mr. Cruz, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2975]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which was referred the bill (S. 2975) to amend title 49, United
States Code, to enhance the safety of pipeline transportation,
and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature of a
substitute and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of S. 2975 is to reauthorize the pipeline
safety programs of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA).
Background and Needs
Congress established PHMSA in 2004 as the Federal agency
within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) responsible
for ensuring the safe operation of the Nation's pipelines, as
well as other hazardous materials, that are essential to our
daily lives.\1\ PHMSA divides its safety programs between two
offices: the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety and the
Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS).\2\ Since PHMSA's creation, the
agency's pipeline safety activities have been reauthorized by
Congress in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2020.
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\1\``PHMSA's Mission,'' PHMSA, accessed November 13, 2025, https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/about-phmsa/phmsas-mission.
\2\``PHMSA Regulations,'' PHMSA, May 5, 2021, https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations.
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OPS is responsible for setting and enforcing Federal
pipeline safety regulations to ensure the safety of inter- and
intrastate gas and hazardous liquids pipelines to people and
the environment, including pipeline design, construction,
operations and maintenance, and emergency response planning.
PHMSA may delegate safety authority over intrastate gas
pipelines, hazardous liquid pipelines, and underground natural
gas storage to States.\3\ With the exception of Alaska and
Hawaii, all States participate in PHMSA's safety oversight
program.\4\ PHMSA provides formula funding to States to support
State enforcement of Federal pipeline safety regulations on
intrastate pipelines. States inspect and enforce the
requirements of the Federal pipeline safety regulations for
over 85 percent of the pipeline facility infrastructure under
PHMSA's safety authority.\5\
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\3\``Federal Effort,'' OPS, PHMSA, February 13, 2025, https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/
effort-allocation/federal-effort; 49 U.S.C. 60101, et seq.
\4\``State Programs Overview,'' PHMSA, August 5, 2024, https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/working-phmsa/state-programs/state-programs-overview.
\5\Ibid.
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In addition to overseeing the 3.3 million miles of
pipeline, PHMSA exercises safety jurisdiction over 176
liquefied natural gas plants, 398 underground natural gas
storage fields, and 8,525 hazardous liquid breakout tanks in
the United States.\6\ According to publicly available
information from PHMSA, the agency has about 232 Federal
inspection and enforcement staff to carry out its pipeline
safety responsibilities, as augmented by approximately 450
State inspectors.\7\
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\6\``Federal Effort,'' PHMSA, February 13, 2025, https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/effort-
allocation/federal-effort.
\7\Ibid.
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OPS's pipeline safety activities are funded primarily
through user fees assessed on regulated pipeline operators.\8\
Congress most recently reauthorized PHMSA's pipeline safety
programs in the Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and
Enhancing Safety Act of 2020 (PIPES Act of 2020), which expired
at the end of fiscal year 2023.\9\ The PIPELINE Safety Act of
2025 would reauthorize PHMSA's pipeline safety programs for 5
years, from fiscal year 2026 to fiscal year 2030; provide
direction on the rules, reports, and operations Congress wants
PHMSA to undertake; and amend the relevant statute to advance
pipeline safety.
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\8\Paul W. Parfomak, DOT's Federal Pipeline Safety Program:
Background and Issues for Congress, CRS Report, May 7, 2025, https://
www.congress.gov/crs-product/R44201.
\9\The Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing
Safety Act of 2020 (Pub. L. 116-260, 134 Stat. 1182 (2020)), https://
www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ260/PLAW-116publ260.pdf.
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Pipelines are one of the safest and least costly modes to
transport vast quantities of gas and hazardous liquids.\10\
However, there is room for improvement. This bill would address
notable pipeline safety incidents that have occurred since the
Committee last considered pipeline safety legislation. Each
incident is identified and discussed in the section-by-section
analysis for the portion of the bill that addresses it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\``General Pipeline FAQs,'' PHMSA, November 6, 2018, https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/faqs/general-pipeline-faqs.
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The PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025 is a broad reauthorization
of PHMSA's pipeline safety programs. It includes several new
requirements for PHMSA to complete. These are in addition to
requirements PHMSA must still complete from pipeline safety
reauthorizations in 2020, 2016, and 2011. The Committee agreed
to a 5-year reauthorization with the expectation that PHMSA
will work diligently to complete the outstanding congressional
requirements. However, the Committee is concerned about the
number of outstanding congressional requirements. The Committee
will continue to demand that PHMSA fulfill the requirements of
this legislation and previous reauthorizations.
Summary of Provisions
S. 2975 would do the following:
Authorize PHMSA's pipeline safety programs for 5
years, authorizing the agency to collect $222 million
in pipeline user fees in fiscal year 2026 and
increasing incrementally to $246.8 million in fiscal
year 2030.
Authorize appropriations for PHMSA's existing
Emergency Response Grants, Pipeline Safety Information
Grants to Communities, Damage Prevention Programs, and
Pipeline Integrity Program (research).
Authorize for the first time the Natural Gas
Distribution Pipeline Infrastructure Safety and
Modernization Grant program, first created in the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act\11\ of 2021, at
$75 million annually for fiscal years 2027 to 2030 to
repair or replace natural gas distribution pipelines
based on risk.
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\11\Public Law 117-58.
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Require PHMSA to allow for risk-based inspection
intervals for hazardous liquid breakout tanks if such
change would maintain or enhance safety.
Reauthorize and improve the technology testing pilot
program.
Require PHMSA to review the safety of composite
pipeline materials.
Require PHMSA to regularly review industry standards
incorporated by reference into the agency's regulations
and update those references as necessary.
Provide pipeline operators with the ability to
utilize alternative methods of maintaining pipeline
rights-of-way while ensuring they can identify risks to
pipeline facilities.
Align the regulatory oversight of natural gas in-
plant pipelines with hazardous liquid in-plant
pipelines.
Require PHMSA to promulgate regulations ensuring the
safe transportation of carbon dioxide in all forms.
Require studies from a National Laboratory and GAO
on the safety of blending hydrogen gas into existing
natural gas systems, with PHMSA determining whether
regulatory updates for blending hydrogen at levels
exceeding 5 percent are necessary following the
studies.
Increase transparency of pipeline safety regulation,
including by improving the accuracy of the National
Pipeline Mapping System for transmission pipelines;
publishing annual statistics on pipeline incidents
online; and designating the Office of Public Engagement
to assist the public with pipeline safety inquiries.
Increase civil penalties for pipeline violations by
about 50 percent.
Require PHMSA to review the methodology for
determining the potential impact radius of gas
transmission safety incidents and submit to Congress a
report detailing PHMSA's findings.
Require pipeline operators to identify the amount of
Aldyl-A in their system, and take steps to mitigate the
risks associated with historic plastics with known
safety issues in their distribution integrity
management plans.
Legislative History
S. 2975 was introduced on October 6, 2025, by Senator Cruz
(for himself and Senators Cantwell, Young, and Peters) and was
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate. On October 21, 2025, the
Committee met in open Executive Session and, by voice vote,
ordered S. 2975 reported favorably with an amendment (in the
nature of a substitute with amendments).
H.R. 5301, the PIPES Act of 2025, was introduced on
September 11, 2025, by Representative Graves (for himself and
Representatives Larsen, Webster, and Titus) and was referred to
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House
of Representatives. On September 17, 2025, that Committee met
in open Executive Session and, by voice vote, ordered H.R. 5301
reported favorably as amended. Representative Van Drew was
added as a cosponsor.
On May 15, 2025, the Subcommittee on Surface
Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety of the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate held a
hearing titled ``Pipeline Safety Reauthorization: Ensuring the
Safe and Efficient Movement of American Energy.'' Witnesses at
the hearing included representatives from the American
Petroleum Institute, the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association, an
executive from CenterPoint Energy on behalf of the American Gas
Association, and the Pipeline Safety Trust. The hearing
informed members about issues relevant to a pipeline safety
reauthorization.
118th Congress
H.R. 6494, the PIPES Act of 2023, was introduced on
November 29, 2023, by Representative Graves (for himself and
Representatives Larsen, Nehls, and Payne) and was referred to
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives. On December 6, 2024, the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure met in open Executive Session
and, by voice vote, ordered H.R. 6494 reported favorably as
amended.
H.R. 7655, the Pipeline Safety, Modernization, and
Expansion Act of 2024, was introduced on March 13, 2024, by
Representative Duncan and was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Energy
and Commerce of the House of Representatives. On March 20,
2024, the Committee on Energy and Commerce met in open
Executive Session and, by a vote of 27-18, ordered H.R. 7655
reported favorably as amended.
Estimated Costs
In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The bill would:
Reauthorize programs managed by the Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)
through 2030
Require PHMSA to conduct regulatory and
inspection activities and make grants
Increase the maximum civil penalty for
violating certain requirements related to pipeline
safety
Impose intergovernmental and private-sector
mandates by requiring compliance with new and updated
regulations and administrative requirements and
imposing fees
Estimated budgetary effects would mainly stem from:
Authorizing appropriations for PHMSA
programs through 2030
Authorizing PHMSA to collect pipeline safety
and natural gas storage facility fees
Increasing collections of civil penalties
Areas of significant uncertainty include:
Projecting the frequency and severity of
pipeline safety violations
Predicting the deterrent effect of larger
civil penalties
Bill summary: S. 2975 would reauthorize the pipeline safety
programs of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) through 2030. The bill also would
require PHMSA to conduct various regulatory, grantmaking, and
inspection activities and would require the Government
Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector General
within the Department of Transportation (DOT) to evaluate and
report on various pipeline safety programs. Finally, S. 2975
would increase civil penalties for certain violations of
pipeline safety requirements.
Estimated Federal cost: The estimated budgetary effect of
S. 2975 is shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation
largely fall within budget functions 400 (transportation) and
800 (general government).
TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF S. 2975
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By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
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2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2026-2030 2026-2035
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INCREASES OR DECREASES (-) IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Estimated Authorization................................ 82 166 168 170 172 n.e. n.e. n.e. n.e. n.e. 758 n.e.
Estimated Outlays...................................... -79 26 65 97 119 n.e. n.e. n.e. n.e. n.e. 228 n.e.
INCREASES IN REVENUES
Estimated Revenues..................................... * 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 17
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n.e. = not estimated; * = between zero and $500,000.
Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the
bill will be enacted early in calendar year 2026, that the
specified and necessary amounts will be provided each year, and
that outlays will follow historical spending patterns for the
affected programs.
Spending subject to appropriation: S. 2975 would authorize
gross appropriations of $1.8 billion over the 2026-2030 period,
which would be partially offset by $1.0 billion in collections
of user fees also authorized by the bill, resulting in a net
authorization of about $800 million over that period. CBO
estimates that implementing S. 2975 would cost $228 million
over the 2026-2030 period, assuming appropriation actions
consistent with that estimate (see Table 2).
TABLE 2.--ESTIMATED CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER S. 2975
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
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2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2026- 2030
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Safety Programs Financed by User Fees:
Authorization....................... 192 197 203 209 214 1,015
Estimated Outlays................... 67 146 179 203 209 804
Offsetting Collections of User Fees:
Estimated Authorization............. -192 -197 -203 -209 -214 -1,015
Estimated Outlays................... -192 -197 -203 -209 -214 -1,015
Subtotal, User Fee Programs:
Estimated Authorization......... 0 0 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays............... -125 -51 -24 -6 -5 -211
Infrastructure Safety and Modernization:
Authorization....................... 0 75 75 75 75 300
Estimated Outlays................... 0 * 1 8 27 36
Safety Programs Financed by a Trust
Fund:
Authorization....................... 30 31 32 33 34 160
Estimated Outlays................... 18 28 31 33 34 144
Operational Expenses:
Authorization....................... 33 34 35 36 37 175
Estimated Outlays................... 23 30 34 36 37 160
Other Activities:
Estimated Authorization............. 19 26 26 26 26 123
Estimated Outlays................... 5 19 23 26 26 99
Subtotal, All Other:
Estimated Authorization......... 82 166 168 170 172 758
Estimated Outlays............... 46 77 89 103 124 439
Total Changes:
Estimated Authorization............. 82 166 168 170 172 758
Estimated Outlays................... -79 26 65 97 119 228
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* = between zero and $500,000.
Safety Programs Financed by User Fees. The cost of most
safety programs operated by PHMSA are financed by fees
collected from the owners and operators of pipelines and
natural gas storage facilities. CBO estimates that implementing
the provisions related to safety programs would, on net, reduce
spending subject to appropriation by $200 million over the
2026-2030 period and would increase such spending by $200
million after 2030 so that there would be no net effect on
spending over time, assuming appropriation actions consistent
with that estimate.
Authorized Spending for Safety Programs. S. 2975 would
authorize the appropriation of specific amounts each year
totaling $1.0 billion over the 2026-2030 period for certain
safety programs. Assuming appropriation of the specified
amounts, CBO estimates that implementing those provisions would
cost $800 million over the same period. In 2025, the Congress
provided $188 million for those activities.
Offsetting Collections of User Fees. The fees that PHMSA is
generally authorized to collect from the natural gas and
pipeline industries to cover the costs of certain safety
programs are treated as offsets to discretionary spending. For
this estimate, CBO assumes that PHMSA would collect fees equal
to 100 percent of the authorized amount each year, totaling
$1.0 billion in collections over the 2026-2030 period.
Infrastructure Safety and Modernization. The bill would
authorize the appropriation of $75 million a year from 2027
through 2030 for PHMSA's Natural Gas Distribution
Infrastructure Safety and Modernization grant program. That
program was authorized through 2026 under the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act to help pay for repairs to or the
replacement of natural gas pipelines. CBO estimates that
implementing the provision would cost $36 million over the
2026-2030 period and $264 million after 2030.
Safety Programs Financed by a Trust Fund. The bill would
authorize the appropriation of specific amounts each year
totaling $160 million over the 2026-2030 period from the Oil
Spill Liability Trust Fund for pipeline safety programs. CBO
estimates that implementing that provision would cost $144
million over the same period and $16 million after 2030. In
2025, the Congress provided $30 million for those activities.
Operational Expenses. The bill would authorize the
appropriation of specific amounts each year totaling $175
million over the 2026-2030 period for PHMSA's operational
expenses. CBO estimates that implementing that provision would
cost $160 million over the same period and $15 million after
2030. In 2025, the Congress provided $32 million for those
activities.
Other Activities. CBO estimates that S. 2975 would
authorize appropriations totaling $123 million over the 2026-
2030 period for other activities conducted by PHMSA and other
agencies. CBO estimates that the bill would authorize the
following amounts:
$50 million for emergency response grants
(as specified in the bill);
$20 million to establish the National Center
of Excellence for Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Leak
Detection;
$15 million for damage prevention programs
(as specified in the bill);
$15 million for PHMSA's pipeline integrity
programs (as specified in the bill); and
$3 million for various reports and
administrative activities conducted by agencies
including the Government Accountability Office and
DOT's Office of Inspector General.
In addition, the bill would require PHMSA to establish a
voluntary information system related to pipeline safety and
would authorize PHMSA to collect $5 million per year in user
fees to support that system. CBO estimates that it would cost
$10 million annually to administer that information system
starting in 2027. On that basis, CBO estimates that PHMSA would
need $5 million in additional appropriations each year to
implement the program, totaling $20 million in net
authorizations over the 2026-2030 period.
CBO estimates that the net cost of implementing those
provisions would be $99 million over the 2026-2030 period.
Revenues: Several sections of the bill would affect
collections of civil penalties, which are recorded in the
budget as revenues. Section 208 would increase the maximum
civil penalty for violations of specific requirements and
regulations related to pipeline safety and maintenance. The
daily maximum penalty would increase from $273,000 in 2025 to
$400,000 in 2026, and the maximum penalty for the sum of daily
violations would increase from $2.7 million to $4.0 million.
Under current law, total collections of those civil
penalties have averaged $5 million per year. Using information
from PHMSA, including the number of penalties assessed near the
maximum amount, CBO estimates that enacting section 208 would
reduce the number of violations but would increase collections
from civil penalties, on net, by $17 million over the 2026-2035
period.
CBO estimates that enacting other sections of S. 2975 would
affect revenues by less than $500,000 over the 2026-2035
period.
Uncertainty: The estimated revenue effects of S. 2975 are
subject to considerable uncertainty. Projecting the frequency
or severity of pipeline safety violations is difficult as is
estimating the deterrent effect of larger civil penalties for
those violations. Thus, the amount of additional revenue
collected under the bill could be larger or smaller than CBO
estimates if larger penalties led to more or fewer violations
than expected.
Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go
Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or
revenues. The net changes in revenues that are subject to those
pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.
Increase in long-term net direct spending and deficits: CBO
estimates that enacting S. 2975 would not increase on-budget
deficits or net direct spending in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2036.
Mandates: S. 2975 would impose private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) on pipeline
owners and operators by requiring compliance with new and
updated regulations and reporting requirements, reauthorizing
user fees, and imposing new fees. CBO estimates that the cost
of the private-sector mandates would exceed the private-sector
threshold established in UMRA ($206 million in 2025, adjusted
annually for inflation).
The bill also would authorize new regulations. If the
departments use that authority, the bill also could impose
intergovernmental and additional private-sector mandates.
Because the cost of those intergovernmental mandates would
depend on regulations not yet issued, CBO cannot determine
whether they would exceed the intergovernmental threshold
established in UMRA ($103 million in 2025, adjusted annually
for inflation).
User fees: The bill would impose private-sector mandates by
levying fees on operators of gas and liquid transmission
pipelines and underground storage facilities for natural gas.
DOT would be reauthorized to collect about
$200 million each year over the 2026-2030 period for
safety programs.
DOT would be authorized to collect up to $5
million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to
establish and manage a voluntary information-sharing
system.
Regulations: The bill would impose private-sector mandates
by requiring two agencies to finalize rules.
DOT would be required to finalize a rule that would
establish minimum safety regulations for transporting carbon
dioxide in gas, liquid, and supercritical states.\1\ That rule
would add carbon dioxide to the list of highly volatile liquids
that require pipeline owners and operators to meet strict
technical and safety requirements. Using information from
PHMSA, CBO estimates that the annual cost of compliance for all
pipeline owners and operators would be about $20 million.
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\1\In January 2025, DOT submitted a notice of proposed rulemaking.
See Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration, ``Pipeline Safety: Safety of Carbon Dioxide and
Hazardous Liquid Pipelines'' (January 2025), https://tinyurl.com/
yxh9hau8.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be required
to finalize a rule to strengthen pipeline cybersecurity and
resiliency.\2\ That rule would require pipeline owners and
operators to develop and implement cybersecurity plans and to
conduct annual evaluations. Using information from DHS, CBO
estimates that the annual cost of compliance for those entities
combined would be about $60 million.
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\2\Department of Homeland Security, Transportation and Safety
Administration, ``Enhancing Surface Cyber Risk Management,'' notice of
proposed rulemaking, 89 Fed. Reg. 88488 (November 7, 2024), https://
tinyurl.com/mshvf3an.
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Reporting requirements: The bill would modify or impose new
reporting requirements on pipeline owners and operators. CBO
expects that the cost of compliance would be small because the
necessary information is readily available.
Pipeline owners and operators would be
required to provide Indian tribes with the same
operational and safety information they provide to
state and local governments.
Operators would be required to file annual
reports on transporting blended gas and to notify DOT
if they file for bankruptcy protection.
Safety standards: S. 2975 would authorize DOT to issue new
or revised regulations based on studies required under the
bill. Those regulations could impose or expand existing
mandates on entities that provide or use natural gas utilities
and could update safety standards for pipeline operating
pressures and hydrogen gas blends. Because such regulations
have not yet been issued, CBO cannot determine whether the cost
of compliance would exceed UMRA's intergovernmental or private-
sector thresholds.
Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Aaron Krupkin;
Revenues: Nathaniel Frentz; Mandates: Brandon Lever.
Estimate reviewed by: Ann E. Futrell, Chief, Natural and
Physical Resources Cost Estimates Unit; Joshua Shakin, Chief,
Revenue Projections Unit; Kathleen FitzGerald, Chief, Public
and Private Mandates Unit; H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director
of Budget Analysis; Chad Chirico, Director of Budget Analysis.
Estimate approved by: Phillip L. Swagel, Director,
Congressional Budget Office.
Regulatory Impact Statement
In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the
legislation, as reported:
NUMBER OF PERSONS COVERED
Federal pipeline safety laws provide PHMSA the authority to
regulate the safe operation of over 3.3 million miles of
pipeline.\12\ PHMSA regulates 1,333 gas distribution pipeline
operators; 530 gas gathering line operators; 1,040 gas
transmission pipeline operators; 555 hazardous liquid pipeline
operators; 98 LNG facilities operators; and 77 underground
natural gas storage operators.\13\ State pipeline safety
regulators establish and enforce safety standards for
intrastate pipelines, and 48 States participate in PHMSA's
pipeline safety program, complementary to PHMSA's enforcement
work.\14\ S. 2975 amends the pipeline safety statutes and
directs PHMSA to amend several regulations governing the safe
transportation of gas and hazardous liquid by pipeline. The
regulatory changes proposed in this bill are limited to
entities that are currently regulated under Federal pipeline
safety law and therefore are not expected to increase the
number of persons covered under existing Federal pipeline
safety laws.
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\12\``Budget Estimates; Fiscal Year 2026,'' PHMSA, May 30, 2025,
https://www.transportation .gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2025-05/
PHMSA_FY_2026_Budget_Estimates_CJ.pdf.
\13\``Pipeline Miles and Facilities 2010+,'' PHMSA, accessed
November 13, 2025, https://portalpublic.phmsa.dot.gov/analytics/
saw.dll?PortalPages.
\14\``State Programs Overview,'' PHMSA, August 5, 2024, https://
www.phmsa.dot.gov/working-phmsa/state-programs/state-programs-overview.
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ECONOMIC IMPACT
The Committee expects S. 2975 would likely have a
beneficial economic impact on the Nation. The bill authorizes
PHMSA to collect $222 million in pipeline user fees in fiscal
year 2026 and increasing incrementally to $246.8 million in
fiscal year 2030. The bill also authorizes appropriations for
operational expenses starting at $33 million for fiscal year
2026 and increasing incrementally to $37 million in fiscal year
2030. The regulatory changes required in this bill would have
an economic impact on the owners and operators of gas and
hazardous liquid pipelines. Some of the changes would provide
more flexibility for operators to maintain or enhance the
safety of their infrastructure, which the Committee expects
could lower regulatory costs. These changes include allowing
for the use of risk-based inspections for in-service breakout
tanks, aligning the in-plant gas pipeline regulations with the
hazardous liquid regulations, and potentially allowing for
alternative technologies to meet Federal pipeline safety
regulations.
Other provisions either increase operator regulatory or
reporting requirements or require studies that could result in
new regulatory or reporting requirements, which would increase
regulatory costs. These changes include the requirements for
distribution systems to assess and mitigate the risks for
Aldyl-A pipe; carbon dioxide safety requirements; cybersecurity
requirements; mitigating risks of geological hazards in
inspection and maintenance plans; several studies, including on
the safety of blending hydrogen into gas distribution systems;
reporting requirements, such as reporting on blended products;
and reviews, such as the methodology for the National Pipeline
Mapping System.
PRIVACY
The reported bill is not expected to have an adverse impact
on the personal privacy of individuals.
PAPERWORK
As reported, S. 2975 would require a variety of reports
from the Federal Government, including PHMSA, the Comptroller
General of the United States, a National Laboratory, and the
Inspector General of the Department of Transportation on topics
such as fire shutoff valves, the National Pipeline Mapping
System, composite materials, hydrogen blending into natural gas
distribution systems, and other pipeline safety topics. The
bill would also require the pipeline industry to report to
PHMSA the intentional blending of non-predominant gas products
above certain thresholds, the presence of Aldyl-A pipeline
materials, and any bankruptcy filings.
Congressionally Directed Spending
In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the
rule.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title; table of contents.
This section would provide that the bill may be cited as
the ``Pipeline Integrity, Protection, and Enhancement for
Leveraging Investments in the Nation's Energy (PIPELINE) to
assure Safety Act of 2025'' or the ``PIPELINE Safety Act of
2025''. This section would also establish a table of contents
for the bill.
Section 2. Definitions.
This section would define the terms ``Administration'',
``Administrator'', ``appropriate committees of Congress'',
``document produced to another person'', and ``Secretary''.
TITLE I--REAUTHORIZATIONS
Section 101. Gas and hazardous liquid.
This section would authorize appropriations for the
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's
(PHMSA) pipeline safety programs for 5 years, from fiscal year
2026 through fiscal year 2030. The authorization would begin in
fiscal year 2026 by authorizing $222 million in user fees the
agency may utilize and would increase incrementally to $248.4
million in user fee funds for fiscal year 2030.
Section 102. Operational expenses of the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration.
This section would authorize appropriations for PHMSA's
operational expenses through fiscal year 2030. Such
authorization would begin at $33 million authorized for
operational expenses in fiscal year 2026 and increase
incrementally to $37 million in fiscal year 2030.
Section 103. Other programs.
This section would authorize appropriations for PHMSA grant
programs, including Emergency Response Grants, Pipeline Safety
Information Grants to Communities, Damage Prevention Programs,
and the Pipeline Integrity Program. This section would also add
requirements addressing when PHMSA must publish notices of
funding opportunities and make awards under the Pipeline Safety
Information Grants to Communities.
TITLE II--MODERNIZING PIPELINE SAFETY
Section 201. Inspection of in-service breakout tanks.
This section would require PHMSA to revise its regulations
to allow for risk-based inspections of in-service breakout
tanks if the Secretary finds that such inspections maintain or
enhance safety. This section would direct PHMSA to consider the
American Petroleum Institute's standard entitled ``Tank
Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Reconstruction'' or
successor regulation in its rulemaking. For any breakout tank
that would be inspected less frequently under a risk-based
inspection interval than under the regulations in effect on
January 1, 2025, PHMSA must require operators to routinely
visually monitor the external conditions of the tank and use a
secondary containment system.
Section 202. Risk assessment obligations.
This section would require a DOT employee with experience
in conducting risk assessments to attend PHMSA's gas and liquid
advisory committee meetings in which the committee is serving
as a peer review panel with respect to risk assessment
information.
Section 203. Timely incorporation by reference.
This section would require PHMSA to review every 5 years
each industry standard that has been adopted or incorporated
into the regulations that have since been modified, and to
update the regulations if such updates are determined necessary
by the Secretary. The Secretary would also have to publish its
reasoning for not adopting or incorporating standards it
reviews. This section would direct the Secretary to consider
adopting or incorporating industry consensus standards when
prescribing new standards. This section would also
prospectively prevent the agency from adopting new
incorporations by reference if those standards are not made
available on the agency's public website during the public
comment period of rulemaking. Further, this section would
require the Secretary to make available on PHMSA's public
website links to all industry standards incorporated by
reference prior to the enactment of the PIPELINE Safety Act of
2025 that are available to the public on a website at no charge
to the public.
Section 204. Report on updates to the National Pipeline Mapping
System.
This section would require the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to submit a report to Congress on PHMSA's
management of the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS). This
report would describe how and when PHMSA updates the high
consequence area data contained in the NPMS, what sources of
scientific data are used for those updates, and how such data
is validated for accuracy. This section would also require
PHMSA to initiate a rulemaking to ensure NPMS data that is
submitted to the agency by pipeline operators has spatial
accuracy within +/- 50 feet of a transmission pipeline.
Section 205. Pipeline safety enhancement programs.
This section would reauthorize the safety-enhancing testing
programs authorized in the PIPES Act of 2020 for 5 years. This
section would require the testing programs to be designed to
achieve a level of safety equal to required safety levels. This
section would also clarify that a testing program is not a
major Federal action under the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) statute and would prevent PHMSA from requiring
testing program applicants to obtain a waiver through the non-
emergency waiver process. This section would also provide an
opportunity for operators to correct any identified
deficiencies with their testing programs.
Section 206. Technical safety standards committees.
This section would require PHMSA to publish an explanation
of why it rejects recommendations or conclusions of the gas or
liquid advisory committees during rulemaking processes and to
notify Congress of the agency's rationale for such rejection.
This section would also amend the existing statutory language
addressing the number of required committee meetings per year
by replacing ``up to 4'' with ``2'' meetings per year.
Section 207. Enforcement procedures.
This section would allow the respondent in a PHMSA
enforcement proceeding to request a formal hearing conducted by
a DOT administrative law judge in civil penalty cases with a
proposed penalty of over $1 million. This section would also
require PHMSA to respond in writing to an operator's submission
in response to the agency's issuance of a warning item. This
section would also require PHMSA to post notices of enforcement
hearings on its website on the page titled ``Upcoming
enforcement hearings'' and would require that formal hearings
be open to the public.
Section 208. Civil penalties.
This section would increase the maximum civil penalties for
violations of the Federal pipeline safety statutes and
regulations. The maximum penalty amount for a violation would
increase from $272,926 (as most recently adjusted for inflation
on December 30, 2024) to $400,000, and the maximum penalty for
a series of related violations would increase from $2,729,245
(as also presently adjusted for inflation) to $4 million.
Section 209. Improving whistleblower protections.
This section would amend the existing whistleblower
protections by adding reference to additional forms of awards a
whistleblower may be entitled to when prevailing in litigation,
particularly back pay with interest and compensation for
special damages.
Section 210. Assessment of composite materials.
This section would require PHMSA to conduct a review of
available data and materials that address the safety of
composite pipeline materials and submit a report to Congress
describing the agency's conclusions based on that review. If
PHMSA were to conclude that composite materials provide an
equivalent level of safety as other pipeline materials, it
could promulgate regulations allowing for the use of composite
materials for the transportation of new fuels.
Section 211. Elements and evaluation of State damage prevention
programs.
This section would add criteria to the minimum requirements
for State one-call damage prevention programs, which States
must adopt to be eligible for PHMSA's damage prevention grants.
These criteria reflect best practices for one-call programs and
are intended to reduce the number of excavation related
pipeline accidents and incidents. This section would also add
criteria PHMSA must use to determine the effectiveness of State
damage prevention programs.
Section 212. Pipeline safety voluntary information-sharing system.
This section would establish a confidential voluntary
information-sharing system (VIS) program to encourage the
sharing of pipeline safety data and information to improve
pipeline safety. The program would bring together members from
relevant Federal and State pipeline safety agencies; pipeline
operator representatives; and environmental, safety, and labor
groups who will analyze information received and prepare
reports addressing lessons learned, process improvements, new
technologies and practices, and other relevant safety
information.
Section 213. Transporting gas.
This section would exclude from PHMSA's gas regulations
``in-plant'' pipelines that move gas within a facility that are
either entirely within the facility or that extend less than 1
mile outside of the facility.
Section 214. Inspection and management of rights-of-way.
This section would codify the existing PHMSA allowance for
pipeline operators to utilize unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
and satellites to conduct required visual inspections of
pipeline rights-of-way. This section would not affect pipeline
operators' obligation to comply with other Federal UAS laws.
This section would also codify that operators may use
alternative methods of maintaining vegetation along pipeline
rights-of-way by utilizing guidance issued by DOT or a relevant
State agency, so long as they maintain an equal level of
safety. In the absence of such guidance, operators may consult
industry practices and guidance for such maintenance practices
but must continue to ensure that the operator can identify
risks to the pipeline facility.
Section 215. Geological hazards.
This section would require operators to address geological
hazards (such as landslides, volcanic activity, earthquakes,
and scouring) in their integrity management plans. PHMSA would
also have to prepare a report addressing geological hazards
that present risks to pipeline safety. This section would
require PHMSA, based on that report, to make recommendations to
improve the mitigation of such hazards to Congress. PHMSA would
also need to review and update, as appropriate, existing
regulations and policy guidance that address the safety of
pipeline facilities from threats posed by geological hazards.
Section 216. Alternative technologies.
This section would require PHMSA to issue a request for
proposals for potential alternative pipeline safety
technologies that, if used by pipeline operators, would meet
the intent of existing pipeline safety regulations and provide
an equal or greater level of safety. This section would specify
that if PHMSA determines that a technology meets the intent of
an existing pipeline safety regulation and provides an equal or
greater level of safety, the agency may engage in rulemaking to
allow operators to adopt the use of such technology.
Section 217. Fire shutoff valves.
This section would require PHMSA to study the effectiveness
of fire shutoff valves or equivalent technologies to determine
if they improve public safety. After completing the study,
PHMSA may prescribe risk-based regulations requiring natural
gas distribution system operators to install fire shutoff
valves or equivalent technologies.
Section 218. Exemption from post-accident testing.
This section would require PHMSA, in consultation with the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, to revise its
regulations to exempt covered employees from post-accident drug
and alcohol testing in cases where an employee performed the
covered duties that might be related to the cause of a pipeline
accident or incident outside of the time frame during which the
use of prohibited drugs can be detected.
Section 219. Maximum allowable operating pressure records.
This section would require PHMSA to continue a current
working group reviewing what historical pipeline testing
documentation may be adequate to prove the maximum allowable
operating pressure (MAOP) of older natural gas transmission
pipelines. This section would require the working group to make
a recommendation based on that review to PHMSA that may inform
PHMSA rulemaking to revise the regulations addressing MAOP
records. This section would temporarily prevent PHMSA from
requiring an owner or operator of a natural gas transmission
pipeline to reconfirm MAOP if the operator has records of prior
testing that demonstrate the appropriate MAOP of such pipeline.
This pause would be in effect until PHMSA decides whether to
revise its regulations addressing the records necessary to
confirm MAOP. However, this section would not amend the current
deadlines by which operators must comply with MAOP
reconfirmation requirements.
Section 220. Pipeline operating status.
This section would require PHMSA to complete an outstanding
rulemaking from the PIPES Act of 2020 addressing safety
requirements for idled pipelines within 90 days of enactment.
Section 221. Potential impact radius.
This section would require PHMSA to review the methodology
used to determine the potential impact radius of natural gas
transmission pipelines. As part of that review, PHMSA would
need to evaluate in a report required to be submitted to
Congress the available human behavior response data; accident
data from pipeline incidents going since January 1, 2000; the
risk of serious injury, death, or damage to property; and the
unique characteristics of the gas being transported. PHMSA's
review would include any applicable information and
recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) or the GAO on this topic. This section would also
require PHMSA's Accident Investigation Division to identify the
location and distance outside of a pipeline's calculated
potential impact radius of any damage that it discovers during
the agency's future accident investigations. NTSB made a
recommendation to PHMSA regarding review of potential impact
radius methodology that PHMSA has begun work on and that this
section would address. NTSB's recommendation relates to a 2019
natural gas pipeline accident in Kentucky that resulted in a
fatality.
Section 222. Effects of weather on natural gas pipelines.
This section would require PHMSA to complete a review of
the effects of applicable weather events on natural gas
pipeline facilities to determine whether such events pose a
risk to safety. Applicable weather events include Winter Storm
Uri, Winter Storm Elliott, and ``major disasters'' as defined
in the Stafford Act that have the potential to impact the
safety of a natural gas pipeline facility. After the review,
PHMSA would be required to conduct a review of gas distribution
integrity management plans for pipelines at increased risk from
applicable weather events to ensure operators are mitigating
the risks associated with the applicable weather events.
Section 223. Aldyl-A pipelines.
This section would require gas distribution operators to
assess their systems for the presence of Aldyl-A pipeline
components and to report the estimated total pipeline mileage
of such to PHMSA within 3 years of enactment. This section
would address a 2023 natural gas pipeline accident at a factory
in West Reading, Pennsylvania, that resulted in seven
fatalities and for which NTSB found an Aldyl-A component was a
causal factor. Under this section, State programs certified by
PHMSA and pipeline distribution operators' integrity management
programs, must both account for pipelines with ``historic
plastics with known safety issues'' such as Aldyl-A. This
section would also clarify that PHMSA may not require pipeline
operators to conduct excavation activities for the purpose of
the Aldyl-A assessment.
Section 224. Improvements to pipeline safety integrity management
programs.
This section would require PHMSA to conduct research into
the use of quantitative data and modeling to assess whether the
use of such data or modeling in pipeline operators' integrity
management programs would improve the estimation of costs and
benefits of risk reduction measures.
Section 225. Nonemergency waivers by the Secretary.
This section would set a timeline by which PHMSA shall
complete a review of a special permit request or notify the
applicant that PHMSA needs additional time to review. It would
also require PHMSA to publicly post the reasons for granting or
denying a special permit. It also would make technical changes
to the statute.
TITLE III--STREAMLINING OVERSIGHT OF PIPELINES
Section 301. Regulatory updates.
This section would require PHMSA to brief Congress at
specified intervals on the status of congressionally required
rulemakings that have not been published by the statutory
deadlines. This section would also establish that if PHMSA
fails to update the status of overdue rulemakings on its public
website at required intervals, the agency may not utilize any
authorized or appropriated funds to support travel for the
Administrator or the Deputy Administrator (except in
emergencies).
Section 302. State use of integrated inspections.
This section would allow PHMSA to establish a process for
certified State pipeline safety programs to implement risk-
based integrated inspection programs. Under such programs,
States would use risk information and data to focus inspection
resources on pipeline facilities and regulatory requirements
that have the highest priorities during an inspection. PHMSA
would be required to review and approve or deny a State's
application to conduct such a risk-based program and may
terminate the authority if the Secretary determines that a
State authority is not adequately carrying out the program.
Three years after the date on which a State's risk-based
inspection program is approved, the DOT Inspector General would
need to review such program to evaluate its safety impacts and
notify the Secretary and Congress if the Inspector General
determines a risk-based integrated inspection program is not
adequate.
Section 303. Optimizing pipeline safety inspections.
This section would require the GAO to evaluate the
inspection scheduling and coordination practices and procedures
between PHMSA, State authorities, and uncertified State
authorities. GAO's report would include recommendations for
improving inspection practices and procedures without
compromising pipeline safety and would be required to be
submitted to Congress. This section would also require PHMSA to
publish annually a summary of Federal and State inspections
conducted each year, including any enforcement actions taken.
Section 304. Sense of Congress on PHMSA engagement prior to rulemaking
activities.
This section would state it is the sense of Congress that,
where appropriate, PHMSA should engage with a broad range of
pipeline stakeholder groups, including State pipeline safety
programs, during the pre-drafting stages of rulemaking
activities.
TITLE IV--IMPROVING SAFETY OF EMERGING GASES
Section 401. Studies of hydrogen pipeline transportation.
This section would require PHMSA to engage a National
Laboratory to conduct a study of the safety, technical, and
practical considerations of blending hydrogen into existing
natural gas systems and to report its findings to Congress.
This section would also require the GAO to study existing
natural gas distribution systems that utilize hydrogen-natural
gas blending applications to identify processes, materials, and
standards that operators have implemented to operate those
systems safely. After completion of the studies, PHMSA would be
required to determine whether any updates to regulations are
necessary to ensure the safety of natural gas distribution
systems that intentionally blend hydrogen at levels exceeding 5
percent. If PHMSA were to determine a rulemaking is not
necessary, the agency would need to report its rationale to
Congress.
Section 402. Safety of carbon dioxide pipelines.
This section would require PHMSA to publish a rule updating
pipeline safety requirements to ensure the safe transport of
carbon dioxide in all phases, including gaseous, liquid, and
supercritical States. The rule required under this section
would need to include appropriate requirements addressing
updates to emergency response plans to address any risks unique
to carbon dioxide pipeline accidents or incidents, minimum
safety standards addressing vapor dispersion modeling to
identify high consequence areas, and share information with
State, local, and Tribal emergency response organizations on
any risks unique to carbon dioxide incidents. The final rule
would also need to consider safety-related conditions reporting
appropriate to any unique safety risks associated with
transporting carbon dioxide. This section would also require
PHMSA to engage a National Laboratory to conduct a study
addressing the use of odorants in carbon dioxide pipelines.
PHMSA would also be required to provide information to relevant
emergency responders that is tailored specifically to carbon
dioxide pipeline releases. In part, this section would address
risks presented by carbon dioxide pipeline releases, whereby
when released, it turns into an odorless gas that may travel
close to the ground. In 2020, a pipeline rupture in Satartia,
Mississippi, resulted in 45 people being taken to the hospital.
PHMSA was required to address the safety of gaseous carbon
dioxide pipelines in the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty,
and Job Creation Act of 2011, but never published the required
rulemaking. The rulemaking required under this section would
also satisfy that outstanding 2011 provision.
Section 403. Reporting of blended products.
This section would require natural gas pipeline operators
to not less frequently than annually report to PHMSA the
intentional blending of over 2 percent by volume of non-
predominant products. This section would allow PHMSA to collect
additional information about the blending of hydrogen into
natural gas distribution systems.
TITLE V--IMPROVING EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND TRANSPARENCY
Section 501. Bitumen oil response plan review.
This section would require the DOT Inspector General to
review pipeline operators' oil spill response plans for spills
of diluted bitumen. The Inspector General would need to review
whether plans include the information necessary to properly
respond to a spill, as well as the findings from a 2013 DOT
study addressing the transportation of bitumen required by the
Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of
2011. This section would require the DOT Inspector General to
submit a report to Congress that summarizes the findings of its
review and contains any recommendations for response to bitumen
spills to the appropriate committees of Congress.
Section 502. National Center of Excellence for Hazardous Liquid
Pipeline Leak Detection.
This section would allow PHMSA to establish the National
Center of Excellence for Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Leak
Detection (Center of Excellence). The primary purpose of the
Center of Excellence would be to conduct research aimed at
improving leak detection for hazardous liquid pipelines. The
Center of Excellence would be established in a State within the
Great Lakes Basin that has an international crude oil pipeline
crossing through an adjacent Great Lake and which is near a
university with pipeline safety expertise. This section would
require PHMSA to submit a report to Congress addressing the
resources necessary for its establishment and describing how
its functions would be carried out before establishing the
Center of Excellence.
Section 503. Operator financial disclosure.
This section would require pipeline operators filing for
bankruptcy to notify PHMSA of such filing within 7 days.
Section 504. Data and transparency.
This section would require PHMSA to publish on its website
1 year after the date of enactment and then not less frequently
than annually summary data of the leaks annually reported by
operators.
Section 505. Office of Public Engagement.
This section would authorize PHMSA to establish an Office
of Public Engagement that would be staffed with the agency's
current community liaison employees. This section would
explicitly describe in statute the Office of Public
Engagement's role and duties. Such duties would include:
conducting outreach about pipeline safety-related matters;
making educational materials available addressing PHMSA
jurisdiction and responsibilities as related to other agency's
pipeline-related equities; holding public meetings; and
generally assisting individuals in resolving pipeline safety
inquiries.
Section 506. Clarification of confirmed discovery.
This section would require PHMSA to review the definition
of ``confirmed discovery'' that triggers pipeline operators'
required reporting of accidents and incidents to the National
Response Center (NRC). PHMSA would also review historical
records to evaluate the timeframes within which past accident
reporting to the NRC has occurred. PHMSA would have to submit a
report to Congress that provides the findings of its review.
This section would also allow PHMSA to consider reducing civil
penalties against operators who report incidents within 10
minutes of a suspected release, or who voluntarily engage in
the emergency notification system addressed by section 507 to
provide timely public alerts.
Section 507. Public alert notification system for pipeline facilities.
This section would require DOT and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to develop voluntary guidance to assist
owners and operators of pipeline facilities in coordinating
with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governmental
entities to make use of existing public alert notification
systems, such as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning
System, in the event of a pipeline emergency. This section
would also require that any relevant procedures voluntarily
established by an operator be incorporated into the operator's
response plans.
TITLE VI--OTHER MATTERS
Section 601. Prohibition on PHMSA operation, procurement, or
contracting action with respect to covered unmanned aircraft
systems.
This section would prohibit PHMSA from operating or
procuring UAS from a ``covered foreign country.'' Any UAS PHMSA
uses would have to be manufactured in the United States. This
section would require PHMSA to submit a report to Congress
generally addressing the status of its UAS use and any changes
it has made to its UAS program to comply with the requirements
of this section.
Section 602. Natural gas distribution pipeline infrastructure safety
and modernization grants.
This section would authorize $75 million for fiscal years
2027 through 2030 for PHMSA's Natural Gas Distribution
Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) program. The
NGDISM program was created by an appropriation in the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act\16\ but has never been
authorized. Under this section, community- or municipality-
owned natural gas distribution operators would be eligible to
apply for grants to repair or improve natural gas distribution
systems for the purpose of improving safety.
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\16\Public Law 117-58.
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Section 603. Issues affecting federally recognized Indian Tribes.
This section would update various existing provisions in
the Federal pipeline safety laws to add references to Tribal
notice, consultation, and coordination. This section would
attempt to place Indian Tribes on equal footing with other
State, local, and Federal Government entities where referenced
throughout the code as appropriate and would require that
notifications made to other relevant governmental entities are
also made to affected Tribes.
Section 604. Identification of and justification for redactions.
This section would require that if PHMSA redacts any
portion of a document produced to another person, including the
relevant congressional committees of jurisdiction, that the
agency must cite a specific statute authorizing the withholding
of the information redacted.
Section 605. Fees for loan guarantees.
This section would authorize the Secretary of Energy to
collect fees from qualified project applicants to cover the
administrative expenses incurred by the Department of Energy to
administer loan guarantees for liquefied natural gas projects
from Alaska.
Section 606. Improving pipeline cybersecurity.
This section would require the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) to publish a final rule related to the
cybersecurity of pipelines, for which TSA has already issued a
proposed rulemaking. A 2023 ransomware attack on Colonial
Pipeline shut down a pipeline responsible for transporting a
significant portion of the fuel consumed on the East Coast. In
response, TSA created temporary cybersecurity requirements.
This section would require TSA to publish a final rule
promulgating cybersecurity requirements to protect against
future cyber attacks.
Section 607. Technical corrections.
This section would include various technical corrections to
ensure proper formatting and cross-references of the
definitions section in 49 U.S.C. 60101(a). This section would
also delete a reference to a report that was required to be
submitted to Congress 25 years ago.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
material is printed in italic, existing law in which no change
is proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 46--SHIPPING
* * * * * * *
Subtitle VII--Security and Drug Enforcement
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 700--PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY
* * * * * * *
Subchapter II--Ports and Waterways Safety
Sec. 70011. * * *
Sec. 70012. Navigational hazards
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) Pipeline Defined.--For purposes of this section, the term
``pipeline'' has the meaning given the term ``pipeline
facility'' in [section 60101(a)(18)] section 60101(a) of title
49.
* * * * * * *
TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
* * * * * * *
Subtitle I--Department of Transportation
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 1--ORGANIZATION
* * * * * * *
Sec. 108. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(a) In General.--The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (referred to in this section as the
``Administration'') shall be an administration in the
Department of Transportation.
(b) * * *
(c) Administrator.--The head of the Administration shall be
the Administrator (referred to in this section as the
``Administrator''), who shall be appointed by the President, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall be an
individual with professional experience in pipeline safety,
hazardous materials safety, or other transportation safety. The
Administrator shall report directly to the Secretary of
Transportation.
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) * * *
(h) Office of Public Engagement.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Appropriate committees of congress.--The
term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' has
the meaning given the term in section 2 of the
PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025.
(B) Director.--The term ``Director'' means
the Director of the Office.
(C) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the
Office of Public Engagement of the
Administration established under paragraph (2).
(2) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator
shall establish within the Administration an office, to
be known as the ``Office of Public Engagement''.
(3) Director.--The Office shall be headed by a
Director, who shall--
(A) report to the Associate Administrator for
Pipeline Safety; and
(B) be responsible for the discharge of the
functions and duties of the Office.
(4) Employees.--The Director shall--
(A) appoint and assign the duties of
employees of the Office; and
(B) prioritize the hiring of individuals who
have experience in community engagement,
including working with the public, State, local
and Tribal governments, and pipeline safety
public interest groups.
(5) Community liaisons.--The Director shall appoint
agency community liaison personnel employed as of the
date on which the Office is established as employees of
the Office.
(6) Duties and functions of the office.--
(A) Coordination of assistance.--The Director
shall coordinate the provision of technical
assistance and educational assistance to the
public with respect to the authorities
exercised by the Administration.
(B) Public engagement.--The Director shall
coordinate active and ongoing engagement with
the public with respect to the authority and
activities of the Administration, including
by--
(i) conducting--
(I) outreach, which may
include public postings,
signage at relevant physical
locations, newspaper
publications, mailings, phone
calls, canvassing, and door
hangers, to communities using
varied media; and
(II) when appropriate,
meetings;
(ii) assisting individuals in
resolving pipeline safety inquiries;
(iii) making publicly available, and
disseminating, information on the
manner in which members of the public
may file inquiries relating to pipeline
safety;
(iv) assisting individuals in
contacting, as necessary, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, State
agencies, and other agencies, in order
to appropriately direct public
inquiries that are not within the
jurisdiction of the Administration to
the relevant agency; and
(v) preparing, and making publicly
available in accessible formats,
educational materials about the
Administration, the responsibilities of
the Administration, and how those
responsibilities interact with entities
under the jurisdiction of the
Administration and other Federal,
State, local, or Tribal government
agencies.
* * * * * * *
Subtitle VII--Aviation Programs
* * * * * * *
PART A--AIR COMMERCE AND SAFETY
* * * * * * *
Subpart III--Safety
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 448--UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
* * * * * * *
Sec. 44815. Prohibition on PHMSA operation, procurement, or contracting
action with respect to covered unmanned aircraft
systems
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administration.--The term ``Administration''
means the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration.
(2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means
the Administrator of the Administration.
(3) Covered foreign country.--The term ``covered
foreign country'' means any of the following:
(A) The People's Republic of China.
(B) The Russian Federation.
(C) The Islamic Republic of Iran.
(D) The Democratic People's Republic of
Korea.
(E) The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
(F) The Republic of Cuba.
(4) Covered unmanned aircraft system.--The term
``covered unmanned aircraft system'' means an unmanned
aircraft system that is, or is owned by an entity that
is--
(A) included on the Consolidated Screening
List or Entity List as designated by the
Secretary of Commerce;
(B) domiciled in a covered foreign country;
or
(C) subject to influence or control by the
government of a covered foreign country.
(b) Restrictions.--Subject to subsection (c), the
Administrator shall not--
(1) operate a covered unmanned aircraft system; or
(2) enter into, extend, or renew a contract--
(A) for the procurement of a covered unmanned
aircraft system; or
(B) with an entity that operates (as
determined by the Secretary of Transportation)
a covered unmanned aircraft system in the
performance of any Administration contract.
(c) Exemption.--The restrictions under subsection (b) shall
not apply if the operation, procurement, or contracting action
is for the purpose of intelligence, electronic warfare, and
information warfare operations, testing, analysis, and
training.
(d) Waiver.--The Administrator may waive the restrictions
under subsection (b) on a case by case basis by certifying, in
writing, to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the
appropriate committees of Congress that the operation,
procurement, or contracting action is required in the public
interest of the United States.
(e) Replacement of Covered Unmanned Aircraft Systems.--
Subject to available appropriations, not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator
shall replace any covered unmanned aircraft system that is
owned or operated by the Administration as of that date of
enactment with an unmanned aircraft system manufactured in the
United States or an allied country (as defined in section
2350f(d) of title 10).
(f) Report to Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that
includes--
(1) a description of the changes the Administration
has made to its operation, procurement, and contracting
processes to ensure that the Administration does not
acquire any covered unmanned aircraft system;
(2) the number of covered unmanned aircraft systems
that needed to be replaced in accordance with
subsection (e), including--
(A) an explanation of the purposes for which
such covered unmanned aircraft systems were
used;
(B) a description of the unmanned aircraft
systems that the Administrator will purchase to
replace such covered unmanned aircraft systems;
and
(C) the cost to purchase the unmanned
aircraft systems described in subparagraph (B);
and
(3) any other information determined appropriate by
the Administrator.
* * * * * * *
Subtitle VIII--Pipelines
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 601--SAFETY
* * * * * * *
Sec. 60101. Definitions
(a) General.--In this [chapter--] chapter:
[(1) ``existing liquefied natural gas facility''--
[(A) means]
(1) Existing liquefied natural gas facility.--
(A) In general.--The term ``existing
liquefied natural gas facility'' means a
liquefied natural gas facility for which an
application to approve the site, construction,
or operation of the facility was filed before
March 1, 1978, with--
(i) the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (or any predecessor); or
(ii) the appropriate State or local
authority, if the facility is not
subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commission under the Natural Gas Act
(15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.)[; but].
[(B) does not]
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``existing
liquefied natural gas facility'' does not
include a facility on which construction is
begun after November 29, 1979, without the
approval described in subparagraph (A)[;].
(2) Gas._The term ``gas'' means natural gas,
flammable gas, or toxic or corrosive gas[;].
(3) Gas pipeline facility._The term ``gas pipeline
facility'' includes a pipeline, a right of way, a
facility, a building, or equipment used in transporting
gas or treating gas during its transportation[;].
(4) Hazardous liquid._The term ``hazardous liquid''
means--
(A) petroleum or a petroleum product;
(B) nonpetroleum fuel, including biofuel,
that is flammable, toxic, or corrosive or would
be harmful to the environment if released in
significant quantities; and
(C) a substance the Secretary of
Transportation decides may pose an unreasonable
risk to life or property when transported by a
hazardous liquid pipeline facility in a liquid
state (except for liquefied natural gas)[;].
(5) Hazardous liquid pipeline facility._The term
``hazardous liquid pipeline facility'' includes a
pipeline, a right of way, a facility, a building, or
equipment used or intended to be used in transporting
hazardous liquid[;].
(6) Interstate gas pipeline facility._The term
``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.)[;].
(7) Interstate hazardous liquid pipeline facility._
The term ``interstate hazardous liquid pipeline
facility'' means a hazardous liquid pipeline facility
used to transport hazardous liquid in interstate or
foreign commerce[;].
(8) Interstate or foreign commerce._The term
``interstate or foreign commerce''--
(A) related to gas, means commerce--
(i) between a place in a State and a
place outside that State; or
(ii) that affects any commerce
described in subclause (A)(i) of this
clause; and
(B) related to hazardous liquid, means
commerce between--
(i) a place in a State and a place
outside that State; or
(ii) places in the same State through
a place outside the State[;].
(9) Intrastate gas pipeline facility._The term
``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.)[;].
(10) Intrastate hazardous liquid pipeline facility._
The term ``intrastate hazardous liquid pipeline
facility'' means a hazardous liquid pipeline facility
that is not an interstate hazardous liquid pipeline
facility[;].
(11) Liquefied natural gas._The term ``liquefied
natural gas'' means natural gas in a liquid or
semisolid state[;].
(12) Liquefied natural gas accident._The term
``liquefied natural gas accident'' means a release,
burning, or explosion of liquefied natural gas from any
cause, except a release, burning, or explosion that,
under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, does not
pose a threat to public health or safety, property, or
the environment[;].
(13) Liquefied natural gas conversion._The term
``liquefied natural gas conversion'' means conversion
of natural gas into liquefied natural gas or conversion
of liquefied natural gas into natural gas[;].
[(14) ``liquefied natural gas pipeline facility''--
[(A) means]
(14) Liquefied natural gas pipeline facility.--
(A) In general.--The term ``liquefied natural
gas pipeline facility'' means a gas pipeline
facility used for transporting or storing
liquefied natural gas, or for liquefied natural
gas conversion, in interstate or foreign
commerce[; but].
[(B) does not]
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``liquefied natural
gas pipeline facility'' does not include any
part of a structure or equipment located in
navigable waters (as defined in section 3 of
the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796))[;].
(15) Municipality._The term ``municipality'' means a
political subdivision of a State[;].
(16) New liquefied natural gas pipeline facility._The
term ``new liquefied natural gas pipeline facility''
means a liquefied natural gas pipeline facility except
an existing liquefied natural gas pipeline facility[;].
(17) Nonpublic information.--The term ``nonpublic
information'' means any pipeline safety data or
information, regardless of form or format, that--
(A) a company does not disclose, disseminate,
or make available to the public; or
(B) is not otherwise in the public domain.
[(17)](18) Person._The term ``person'', in addition
to its meaning under section 1 of title 1 (except as to
societies), includes a State, a municipality, and a
trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative
of a person[;].
[(18)](19) Pipeline facility._The term ``pipeline
facility'' means a gas pipeline facility and a
hazardous liquid pipeline facility[;].
[(19)](20) Pipeline transportation._The term
``pipeline transportation'' means transporting gas and
transporting hazardous liquid[;].
(21) Public information.--The term ``public
information'' means any data or information, regardless
of form or format, that--
(A) a company discloses, disseminates, or
makes available to the public; or
(B) is otherwise in the public domain.
[(23)](22) Risk management._The term ``risk
management'' means the systematic application, by the
owner or operator of a pipeline facility, of management
policies, procedures, finite resources, and practices
to the tasks of identifying, analyzing, assessing,
reducing, and controlling risk in order to protect
employees, the general public, the environment, and
pipeline facilities[;].
[(24)](23) Risk management plan._The term ``risk
management plan'' means a management plan utilized by a
gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility owner or
operator that encompasses risk management[;].
[(25)](24) Secretary._The term ``Secretary'' means
the Secretary of Transportation[; and].
[(20)](25) State._The term ``State'' means a State of
the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico[;].
[(21)][(26) ``transporting gas''--
[(A) means]
(26) Transporting gas.--
(A) In general.--The term ``transporting
gas'' means--
(i) the gathering, transmission, or
distribution of gas by pipeline, or the
storage of gas, in interstate or
foreign commerce; and
(ii) the movement of gas through
regulated gathering lines[; but].
[(B) does not include gathering gas (except
through regulated gathering lines) in a rural
area outside a populated area designated by the
Secretary as a nonrural area;]
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``transporting
gas'' does not include--
(i) gathering gas (except through
regulated gathering lines) in a rural
area outside a populated area
designated by the Secretary as a
nonrural area; or
(ii) the movement of gas by the owner
or operator of a plant for use as a
fuel, a feedstock, or for any other
purpose that directly supports plant
operations through--
(I) in-plant piping systems
that are located entirely on
the grounds of the plant; or
(II) transfer piping systems
that extend less than 1 mile in
length outside the grounds of
the plant.
[(22)][(27) ``transporting hazardous liquid''--
[(A) means]
(27) Transporting hazardous liquid.--
(A) In general.--The term ``transporting
hazardous liquid'' means--
(i) the movement of hazardous liquid
by pipeline, or the storage of
hazardous liquid incidental to the
movement of hazardous liquid by
pipeline, in or affecting interstate or
foreign commerce; and
(ii) the movement of hazardous liquid
through regulated gathering lines[;
but].
[(B) does not]
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``transporting
hazardous liquid'' does not include moving
hazardous liquid through--
(i) gathering lines (except regulated
gathering lines) in a rural area;
(ii) onshore production, refining, or
manufacturing facilities; or
(iii) storage or in-plant piping
systems associated with onshore
production, refining, or manufacturing
facilities[;].
[(26)](28) Underground natural gas storage facility._
The term ``underground natural gas storage facility''
means a gas pipeline facility that stores natural gas
in an underground facility, including--
(A) a depleted hydrocarbon reservoir;
(B) an aquifer reservoir; or
(C) a solution-mined salt cavern reservoir.
(b) * * *
(c) Indian and Tribal Definitions.--In this chapter:
(1) Indian land.--The term ``Indian land'' has the
meaning given the term ``Indian lands'' in section 4 of
the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703).
(2) Indian Tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.
5304).
Sec. 60102. Purpose and general authority
(a) * * *
(b) Practicability and Safety Needs Standards.--
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(4) Review.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall--
(i) submit any risk assessment
information prepared under paragraph
(3) of this subsection to the Technical
Pipeline Safety Standards Committee,
the Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline
Safety Standards Committee, or both, as
appropriate; [and]
(ii) make that risk assessment
information available to the general
public[.]; and
(iii) require that an officer or
employee of the Department of
Transportation with expertise in
conducting risk assessments or cost-
benefit analyses for pipeline
facilities or other modes of
transportation attend any meeting in
which a committee described in clause
(i) is serving as a peer review panel
with respect to that risk assessment
information.
(B) * * *
(C) * * *
(5) * * *
(6) * * *
[(7) Report.--Not later than March 31, 2000, the
Secretary shall transmit to the Congress a report
that--
[(A) describes the implementation of the risk
assessment requirements of this section,
including the extent to which those
requirements have affected regulatory
decisionmaking and pipeline safety; and
[(B) includes any recommendations that the
Secretary determines would make the risk
assessment process conducted pursuant to the
requirements under this chapter a more
effective means of assessing the benefits and
costs associated with alternative regulatory
and nonregulatory options in prescribing
standards under the Federal pipeline safety
regulatory program under this chapter.]
(c) Public Safety Program Requirements.--(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(4) Promoting public awareness.--
(A) Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of the Accountable Pipeline Safety and
Accountability Act of 1996, and annually thereafter,
the owner or operator of each interstate gas pipeline
facility shall provide to the governing body of each
municipality in which the interstate gas pipeline
facility is [located,] located and any affected Indian
Tribe a map identifying the location of such facility.
(B)(i) * * *
(ii) * * *
(d) Facility Operation Information Standards.--The Secretary
shall prescribe minimum standards requiring an operator of a
pipeline facility subject to this chapter to maintain, to the
extent practicable, information related to operating the
facility as required by the standards prescribed under this
chapter and, when requested, to make the information available
to the Secretary [and an appropriate State official as
determined by the Secretary], an appropriate State official (as
determined by the Secretary), and an appropriate Tribal
official (as determined by the Secretary) from any affected
Indian Tribe. The information shall include--
(1) the business name, address, and telephone number,
including an operations emergency telephone number, of
the operator;
(2) accurate maps and a supplementary geographic
description, including an identification of areas
described in regulations prescribed under section 60109
of this title, that show the location in the State or,
with respect to an affected Indian Tribe, on affected
Indian land, of--
(A) major gas pipeline facilities of the
operator, including transmission lines and
significant distribution lines; and
(B) major hazardous liquid pipeline
facilities of the operator;
(3) a description of--
(A) the characteristics of the operator's
pipelines in the State; and
(B) products transported through the
operator's pipelines in the State;
(4) the manual that governs operating and maintaining
pipeline facilities in the State;
(5) an emergency response plan describing the
operator's procedures for responding to and containing
releases, including--
(A) identifying specific action the operator
will take on discovering a release;
(B) liaison procedures with State and local
authorities and Tribal officials from any
affected Indian Tribe for emergency response;
and
(C) communication and alert procedures for
immediately notifying State and local officials
and Tribal officials from any affected Indian
Tribe at the time of a release; and
(6) other information the Secretary considers useful
to inform a State or an affected Indian Tribe of the
presence of pipeline facilities and operations in the
State or on affected Indian land.
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) * * *
(h) Safety Condition Reports.--(1) * * *
(2) Submission of report.--As soon as practicable, but not
later than 5 business days, after a representative of a person
to whom this section applies first establishes that a condition
described in paragraph (1) exists, the operator shall submit
the report required under that paragraph to--
(A) the Secretary;
(B) the appropriate State authority or, where no
appropriate State authority exists, to the Governor of
a State where the subject of the Safety Related
Condition report occurred; and
(C) [the appropriate Tribe] any affected Indian Tribe
with respect to the location where the subject of the
Safety Related Condition report occurred.
(3) Submission of report to other entities.--Upon request, a
State authority or a Governor that receives a report submitted
under this subsection may submit the report to any relevant
emergency response or planning entity, including any--
(A) State emergency response commission established
pursuant to section 301 of the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001);
(B) Tribal emergency response commission or emergency
planning committee (as defined in part 355 of title 40,
Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation)) or Tribal official if no such commission
or committee exists;
(C) local emergency planning committee established
pursuant to section 301 of the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001);
or
(D) other public agency responsible for emergency
response.
(i) * * *
(j) * * *
(k) * * *
[(l) Updating Standards.--The Secretary shall, to the extent
appropriate and practicable, update incorporated industry
standards that have been adopted as part of the Federal
pipeline safety regulatory program under this chapter.]
(l) Updating Standards.--
(1) In general.--Not less frequently than once every
5 years, the Secretary shall--
(A) review each industry consensus standard--
(i) that has been adopted or
incorporated, partially or in full, as
part of the Federal pipeline safety
regulatory program under this chapter;
(ii) that has been modified by a
standards development organization (as
defined in section 2(a) of the National
Cooperative Research and Production Act
of 1993 (15 U.S.C. 4301(a))) since
being adopted or incorporated; and
(iii) the modification of which has
been published by a standards
development organization (as defined in
that section); and
(B) update, as determined necessary by the
Secretary, the adoption or incorporation of
each industry consensus standard reviewed under
subparagraph (A).
(2) List of industry standards.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall maintain
a publicly available list of all industry
standards considered for adoption or
incorporation under this chapter, including--
(i) the determination of the
Secretary with respect to each standard
considered; and
(ii) with respect to each standard
not adopted or incorporated in full,
the reasoning for not adopting or
incorporating that standard in full.
(B) Availability.--Not later than 30 days
after initial completion and each revision of
the list under subparagraph (A), the Secretary
shall publish the list on the public website of
the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration.
(3) Consideration of industry consensus standards.--
In prescribing new safety standards under this chapter,
the Secretary shall consider adopting or incorporating
industry consensus standards.
(4) Public access.--
(A) In general.--For all industry consensus
standards incorporated or partially
incorporated under this chapter on or after the
date of enactment of the PIPELINE Safety Act of
2025, the Secretary shall publish on the public
website of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration the full text of the
standard or a direct link to an external source
where the full text is available to the public
on a website to view at no cost for the
duration of time that the Secretary has the
incorporation by reference available for public
comment.
(B) Exception.--If the full text of an
industry consensus standard is not published on
the public website of the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration or
available from that website via a direct link
to an external source where the full text is
available to the public on a website to view at
no cost for the duration of time that the
Secretary has the incorporation by reference
available for public comment, then the
Secretary shall not incorporate or partially
incorporate under this chapter that industry
consensus standard by reference.
(C) Previously incorporated standards.--For
industry consensus standards incorporated or
partially incorporated under this chapter
before the date of enactment of the PIPELINE
Safety Act of 2025 that are publicly available
on a public-facing website at no charge to the
public, the Secretary shall publish on the
public website of the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration the full text
of the standard or a direct link to an external
source where the full text is available to the
public on a website.
(m) * * *
(n) * * *
(o) * * *
(p) * * *
(q) Gas Pipeline Leak Detection and Repair.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall
promulgate final regulations that require operators of
regulated gathering lines (as defined pursuant to
subsection (b) of section 60101 for purposes of
[subsection (a)(21)] subsection (a)(26) of that
section) in a Class 2 location, Class 3 location, or
Class 4 location, as determined under section 192.5 of
title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, operators of new
and existing gas transmission pipeline facilities, and
operators of new and existing gas distribution pipeline
facilities to conduct leak detection and repair
programs--
(A) to meet the need for gas pipeline safety,
as determined by the Secretary; and
(B) to protect the environment.
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
(r) Emergency Response Plans.--Not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall
update regulations to ensure that each emergency response plan
developed by an operator of a distribution system under
subsection (d)(5), includes written procedures for--
(1) establishing communication with first responders
and other relevant public officials, including Tribal
officials, as soon as practicable, beginning from the
time of confirmed discovery, as determined by the
Secretary, by the operator of a gas pipeline emergency
involving a release of gas from a distribution system
of that operator that results in--
(A) a fire related to an unintended release
of gas;
(B) an explosion;
(C) 1 or more fatalities; or
(D) the unscheduled release of gas and
shutdown of gas service to a significant number
of customers, as determined by the Secretary;
(2) establishing general public communication through
an appropriate channel--
(A) as soon as practicable, as determined by
the Secretary, after a gas pipeline emergency
described in paragraph (1); and
(B) that provides information regarding--
(i) the emergency described in
subparagraph (A); and
(ii) the status of public safety; and
(3) the development and implementation of a
voluntary, opt-in system that would allow
operators of distribution systems to rapidly
communicate with customers in the event of an
emergency.
(s) * * *
(t) * * *
* * * * * * *
Sec. 60105. State pipeline safety program certifications
(a) * * *
(b) Contents.--Each certification submitted under subsection
(a) of this section shall state that the State authority--
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
(5) * * *
(6) * * *
(7) * * *
(8) * * *
(9) has a sufficient number of employees described in
paragraph (3) to ensure safe operations of pipeline
facilities, updating the State Inspection Calculation
Tool to take into account factors including--
(A) the number of miles of natural gas and
hazardous liquid pipelines in the State,
including the number of miles [of cast iron and
bare steel pipelines] of--
(i) cast iron and bare steel
pipelines; and
(ii) pipelines constructed of
historic plastics with known safety
issues;
(B) the number of services in the State;
(C) the age of the gas distribution system in
the State; and
(D) environmental factors that could impact
the integrity of the pipeline, including
relevant geological issues.
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) State Use of Integrated Inspections.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Appropriate committees of congress.--The
term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' has
the meaning given the term in section 2 of the
PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025.
(B) Inspector general.--The term ``Inspector
General'' means the Inspector General of the
Department of Transportation.
(C) Risk-based integrated inspection
program.--The term ``risk-based integrated
inspection program'' means an inspection
program that uses risk information and data to
focus inspection resources on pipeline
facilities and regulatory requirements that
have the highest priority during an inspection.
(2) Authorization.--Subject to all other applicable
provisions of this section, with the written agreement
of the Secretary and a State authority certified under
this section, which may be in the form of a memorandum
of understanding, the Secretary may authorize, and the
State authority may carry out, a risk-based integrated
inspection program.
(3) Procedural and substantive requirements.--A State
authority that is authorized to carry out a risk-based
integrated inspection program--
(A) shall be subject to the same procedural
and substantive requirements that would apply
if the Secretary were carrying out the program;
and
(B) shall ensure--
(i) that no pipeline system goes
without inspection for more than 5
years; and
(ii) that unsatisfactory conditions
found in inspections are addressed in a
timely manner.
(4) Application and criteria.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Secretary shall establish procedures and criteria for
State authorities to apply to carry out a risk-based
integrated inspection program pursuant to this
subsection.
(5) Evaluation timeline.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after
receiving an application from a State authority
to carry out a risk-based integrated inspection
program under this subsection, the Secretary
shall--
(i) review the application; and
(ii) approve or deny the application.
(B) Explanation of denial.--If the Secretary
denies an application submitted by a State
authority under this subsection, the Secretary
shall provide an explanation to the State
authority of--
(i) why the Secretary denied the
application; and
(ii) changes that the State authority
could make to the application that
would result in the Secretary approving
the application.
(6) Review of programs.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall
establish a process to review the
implementation of a risk-based integrated
inspection program by a State authority.
(B) Review by inspector general.--
(i) In general.--The Inspector
General shall--
(I) review each risk-based
integrated inspection program
authorized by the Secretary
under this subsection not later
than 3 years after the date on
which the relevant application
is approved to determine
whether the program meets the
needs of pipeline safety; and
(II) submit to the Secretary
and the appropriate committees
of Congress a report on that
review.
(ii) Requirement.--If the Inspector
General determines that a risk-based
integrated inspection program is not
adequate and should be terminated, the
Inspector General shall notify the
Secretary and the appropriate
committees of Congress.
(7) Termination.--
(A) Termination by the secretary.--The
Secretary may terminate an authorization for a
State authority to carry out a risk-based
integrated inspection program if--
(i) the Secretary determines that the
State authority is not adequately
carrying out the program;
(ii) the Secretary provides to the
State authority--
(I) a notification of the
intent of the Secretary to
terminate the authorization for
the State authority to carry
out a risk-based integrated
inspection program;
(II) a period of not less
than 120 days to take such
corrective action as the
Secretary determines to be
necessary to comply with the
requirements of this section;
and
(III) on request of the State
authority, a detailed
description of the aspects of
the program that are
inadequate; and
(iii) the State authority, after the
notification described in clause
(ii)(I), fails to take satisfactory
corrective action in accordance with
clause (ii)(II) before the expiration
of the period provided under that
clause.
(B) Termination by a state authority.--A
State authority may terminate its authority to
carry out a risk-based integrated inspection
program at any time by providing to the
Secretary a notice not later than 90 days
before the date of termination.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 60108. Inspection and maintenance
(a) Plans.--[(1) Each]
(1) In general.--Each person owning or operating a
gas pipeline facility or hazardous liquid pipeline
facility shall carry out a current written plan
(including any changes) for inspection and maintenance
of each facility used in the transportation and owned
or operated by the person. A copy of the plan shall be
kept at any office of the person the Secretary of
Transportation considers appropriate. The Secretary
also may require a person owning or operating a
pipeline facility subject to this chapter to file a
plan for inspection and maintenance for approval.
[(2) If]
(2) Revision.--If the Secretary or a State authority
responsible for enforcing standards prescribed under
this chapter decides that a plan required under
paragraph (1) of this subsection is inadequate for safe
operation, the Secretary or authority shall require the
person to revise the plan. Revision may be required
only after giving notice and an opportunity for a
hearing. A plan required under paragraph (1) must be
practicable and designed to meet the need for pipeline
safety, must meet the requirements of any regulations
promulgated under section 60102(q), and must include
terms designed to enhance the ability to discover
safety-related conditions described in section
60102(h)(1) of this title. In deciding on the adequacy
of a plan, the Secretary or authority shall consider--
(A) relevant available pipeline safety
information;
(B) the appropriateness of the plan for the
particular kind of pipeline transportation or
facility;
(C) the reasonableness of the plan;
(D) the extent to which the plan will
contribute to--
(i) public safety;
(ii) eliminating hazardous leaks and
minimizing releases of natural gas from
pipeline facilities; [and]
(iii) the protection of the
environment; and
(iv) mitigation of threats posed by
geological hazards; and
(E) the extent to which the plan addresses
the replacement or remediation of pipelines
that are known to leak based on the material
(including cast iron, unprotected steel,
wrought iron, and historic plastics with known
issues), design, or past operating and
maintenance history of the pipeline.
(3) Review of plans.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this subparagraph, and
not less frequently than once every 5 years
thereafter, the Secretary or relevant State
authority with a certification in effect under
section 60105 shall review each plan described
in this subsection.
(B) Context of review.--The Secretary may
conduct a review under this paragraph as an
element of the inspection of the operator
carried out by the Secretary under subsection
(b).
(C) Inadequate programs.--If the Secretary
determines that a plan reviewed under this
paragraph does not comply with the requirements
of this chapter (including any regulations
promulgated under this chapter), has not been
adequately implemented, is inadequate for the
safe operation of a pipeline facility, or is
otherwise inadequate, the Secretary may conduct
enforcement proceedings under this chapter.
(4) Alternative methods of maintaining rights-of-
way.--
(A) In general.--As part of the review
conducted under paragraph (3), the Secretary
shall allow for an alternative method of
maintaining rights-of-way for pipelines and
other pipeline facilities under a voluntary
program carried out by the operator if the
Secretary determines that the alternative
method--
(i) achieves a level of safety at
least equal to the level of safety
required by the regulations promulgated
under this chapter; and
(ii) allows for timely emergency
response.
(B) Purpose.--An operator considering
implementing an alternative method described in
subparagraph (A) may consider incorporating
into the plan for implementing that method 1 or
more conservation practices, including--
(i) integrated vegetation management
practices, including reduced mowing;
(ii) the development of habitat and
forage for pollinators and other
wildlife through seeding or planting of
diverse native forbs and grasses;
(iii) practices relating to
maintenance strategies that promote
early successional vegetation or limit
disturbance during periods of highest
use by target pollinator species and
other wildlife on pipeline or facility
rights-of-way, including--
(I) increasing mowing height;
(II) reducing mowing
frequency; and
(III) refraining from mowing
monarch and other pollinator
habitat during periods in which
monarchs or other pollinators
are present;
(iv) an integrated vegetation
management plan that may include
approaches such as mechanical tree and
brush removal and targeted and
judicious use of herbicides and mowing
to address incompatible or undesirable
vegetation while promoting compatible
and beneficial vegetation on pipeline
and facility rights-of-way;
(v) planting or seeding of deeply
rooted, regionally appropriate
perennial grasses and wildflowers,
including milkweed, to enhance habitat;
(vi) removing shallow-rooted grasses
from planting and seeding mixes, except
for use as nurse or cover crops; and
(vii) obtaining expert training or
assistance on wildlife- and pollinator-
friendly practices, including--
(I) native plant
identification;
(II) establishment and
management of regionally
appropriate native plants;
(III) land management
practices; and
(IV) integrated vegetation
management.
(C) Consultation.--
(i) Available guidance.--In
developing alternative methods under
this paragraph, an operator shall
consult any available guidance issued
by--
(I) the Secretary; or
(II) an applicable State
agency carrying out compliance
activities on behalf of the
Secretary in accordance with
section 60105.
(ii) Leading industry practices.--In
the absence of guidance described in
clause (i), an operator may consult
leading industry practices and guidance
to develop and implement alternative
methods under this paragraph.
(D) Requirements.--An operator using an
alternative method under this paragraph shall
ensure that the alternative inspection plans of
the operator continue to ensure that the
operator can identify risks to pipeline
facilities.
(E) Savings provision.--Nothing in this
paragraph exempts an operator from compliance
with any applicable requirements under this
chapter (including any regulations promulgated
under this chapter).
(b) * * *
(c) Pipeline Facilities Offshore and in Other Waters.--(1) In
this subsection--
(A) ``abandoned'' means permanently removed from
service.
(B) ``pipeline facility'' includes an underwater
abandoned pipeline facility.
(C) if a pipeline facility has no operator, the most
recent operator of the facility is deemed to be the
operator of the facility.
(2)(A) Not later than May 16, 1993, on the basis of
experience with the inspections under section 3(h)(1)(A) of the
Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or section 203(l)(1)(A)
of the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, as
appropriate, and any other information available to the
Secretary, the Secretary shall establish a mandatory,
systematic, and, where appropriate, periodic inspection program
of--
(i) all offshore pipeline facilities; and
(ii) any other pipeline facility crossing under,
over, or through waters where a substantial likelihood
of commercial navigation exists, if the Secretary
decides that the location of the facility in those
waters could pose a hazard to navigation or public
safety.
(B) In prescribing standards to carry out subparagraph (A) of
this paragraph--
(i) the Secretary shall identify what is a hazard to
navigation with respect to an underwater abandoned
pipeline facility; and
(ii) for an underwater pipeline facility abandoned
after October 24, 1992, the Secretary shall include
requirements that will lessen the potential that the
facility will pose a hazard to navigation and shall
consider the relationship between water depth and
navigational safety and factors relevant to the local
marine environment.
(3)(A) The Secretary shall establish by regulation a program
requiring an operator of a pipeline facility described in
paragraph (2) of this subsection to report a potential or
existing navigational hazard involving that pipeline facility
to the Secretary through the appropriate Coast Guard office.
(B) The operator of a pipeline facility described in
paragraph (2) of this subsection that discovers any part of the
pipeline facility that is a hazard to navigation shall mark the
location of the hazardous part with a Coast-Guard-approved
marine buoy or marker and immediately shall notify the
Secretary as provided by the Secretary under subparagraph (A)
of this paragraph. A marine buoy or marker used under this
subparagraph is deemed a pipeline sign or right-of-way marker
under section 60123(c) of this title.
(4)(A) The Secretary shall establish a standard that each
pipeline facility described in paragraph (2) of this subsection
that is a hazard to navigation is buried not later than 6
months after the date the condition of the facility is reported
to the Secretary. The Secretary may extend that 6-month period
for a reasonable period to ensure compliance with this
paragraph.
(B) In prescribing standards for subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph for an underwater pipeline facility abandoned after
October 24, 1992, the Secretary shall include requirements that
will lessen the potential that the facility will pose a hazard
to navigation and shall consider the relationship between water
depth and navigational safety and factors relevant to the local
marine environment.
(5)(A) Not later than October 24, 1994, the Secretary shall
establish standards on what is an exposed offshore pipeline
facility and what is a hazard to navigation under this
subsection.
(B) Not later than 6 months after the Secretary establishes
standards under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, or October
24, 1995, whichever occurs first, the operator of each offshore
pipeline facility not described in section 3(h)(1)(A) of the
Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or section 203(l)(1)(A)
of the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, as
appropriate, shall inspect the facility and report to the
Secretary on any part of the facility that is exposed or is a
hazard to navigation. This subparagraph applies only to a
facility that is between the high water mark and the point at
which the subsurface is under 15 feet of water, as measured
from mean low water. An inspection that occurred after October
3, 1989, may be used for compliance with this subparagraph if
the inspection conforms to the requirements of this
subparagraph.
(C) The Secretary may extend the time period specified in
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph for not more than 6 months
if the operator of a facility satisfies the Secretary that the
operator has made a good faith effort, with reasonable
diligence, but has been unable to comply by the end of that
period.
(6)(A) The operator of a pipeline facility abandoned after
October 24, 1992, shall report the abandonment to the Secretary
in a way that specifies whether the facility has been abandoned
properly according to applicable United States Government and
State requirements.
(B) Not later than October 24, 1995, the operator of a
pipeline facility abandoned before October 24, 1992, shall
report to the Secretary reasonably available information
related to the facility, including information that a third
party possesses. The information shall include the location,
size, date, and method of abandonment, whether the facility has
been abandoned properly under applicable law, and other
relevant information the Secretary may require. Not later than
April 24, 1994, the Secretary shall specify how the information
shall be reported. The Secretary shall ensure that the
Government maintains the information in a way accessible to
appropriate Government agencies and State authorities.
(C) The Secretary shall request that a State authority having
information on a collision between a vessel and an underwater
pipeline facility report the information to the Secretary and
Tribal officials from any affected Indian Tribe in a timely way
and make a reasonable effort to specify the location, date, and
severity of the collision. Chapter 35 of title 44 does not
apply to this subparagraph.
(7) The Secretary may not exempt from this chapter an
offshore hazardous liquid pipeline facility only because the
pipeline facility transfers hazardous liquid in an underwater
pipeline between a vessel and an onshore facility.
(8) If, after reviewing existing Federal and State
regulations for hazardous liquid gathering lines located
offshore in the United States, including within the inlets of
the Gulf of Mexico, the Secretary determines it is appropriate,
the Secretary shall issue regulations, after notice and an
opportunity for a hearing, subjecting offshore hazardous liquid
gathering lines and hazardous liquid gathering lines located
within the inlets of the Gulf of Mexico to the same standards
and regulations as other hazardous liquid gathering lines. The
regulations issued under this paragraph shall not apply to
production pipelines or flow lines.
(d) * * *
(e) [In General] Post-inspection Briefing and Preliminary
Findings.--After the completion of a Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration pipeline safety inspection, the
Administrator of such Administration, or the State authority
certified under section 60105 of title 49, United States Code,
to conduct such inspection, shall--
(1) within 30 days, conduct a post-inspection
briefing with the owner or operator of the gas or
hazardous liquid pipeline facility inspected outlining
any concerns; and
(2) within 90 days, to the extent practicable,
provide the owner or operator with written preliminary
findings of the inspection.
(f) Inspection of Rights-of-way.--
(1) In general.--When requiring an operator to
inspect the surface conditions on or adjacent to a
pipeline right-of-way, the Secretary shall allow the
use of unmanned aircraft systems and satellites.
(2) Savings provision.--Nothing in this subsection
affects any obligation to operate an unmanned aircraft
system in accordance with all relevant Federal laws
relating to the use of unmanned aircraft systems.
Sec. 60109. High-density population areas and environmentally sensitive
areas
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) Distribution Integrity Management Programs.--
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
(5) * * *
(6) * * *
(7) Evaluation of risk.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this paragraph, the
Secretary shall promulgate regulations to
ensure that each distribution integrity
management plan developed by an operator of a
distribution system includes an evaluation of--
(i) the risks resulting from the
[presence of cast iron pipes and mains
in the distribution system; and]
presence, in the distribution system,
of pipes and mains made of--
(I) cast iron;
(II) unprotected steel;
(III) wrought iron; or
(IV) historic plastics with
known safety issues; and
(ii) the risks that could lead to or
result from the operation of a low-
pressure distribution system at a
pressure that makes the operation of
any connected and properly adjusted
low-pressure gas burning equipment
unsafe, as determined by the Secretary.
(B) * * *
[(C) Deadlines.--
[(i) In general.--Not later than 2
years after the date of enactment of
this paragraph, each operator of a
distribution system shall make
available to the Secretary or the
relevant State authority with a
certification in effect under section
60105, as applicable, a copy of--
[(I) the distribution
integrity management plan of
the operator;
[(II) the emergency response
plan under section 60102(d)(5);
and
[(III) the procedural manual
for operations, maintenance,
and emergencies under section
60102(d)(4).
[(ii) Updates.--Each operator of a
distribution system shall make
available to the Secretary or make
available for inspection to the
relevant State authority described in
clause (i), if applicable, an updated
plan or manual described in that clause
by not later than 60 days after the
date of a significant update, as
determined by the Secretary.
[(iii) Applicability of foia.--
Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed to authorize the disclosure
of any information that is exempt from
disclosure under section 552(b) of
title 5.]
(C) Deadlines.--
(i) Emergency response plan.--Not
later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of the PIPELINE Safety Act of
2025, each operator of a distribution
system shall make available to the
Secretary or the relevant State
authority with a certification in
effect under section 60105, as
applicable, and to any affected Indian
Tribe, a copy of the emergency response
plan under section 60102(d)(5).
(ii) Other documents.--Not later than
2 years after the date of enactment of
the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025, each
operator of a distribution system shall
make available to the Secretary or the
relevant State authority with a
certification in effect under section
60105, as applicable, a copy of--
(I) the distribution
integrity management plan of
the operator; and
(II) the procedural manual
for operations, maintenance,
and emergencies under section
60102(d)(4).
(iii) Updates.--Not later than 60
days after the date of a significant
update, as determined by the Secretary,
to a plan or manual described in clause
(i) or (ii), the operator of the
applicable distribution system shall--
(I) in the case of an
emergency response plan
described in clause (i), make
available to the Secretary or
make available for inspection
to the relevant State authority
described in that clause (if
applicable), and make available
for inspection to any affected
Indian Tribe, an updated copy
of the emergency response plan;
and
(II) in the case of a plan or
manual described in clause
(ii), make available to the
Secretary or make available for
inspection to the relevant
State authority described in
that clause (if applicable) an
updated copy of the applicable
plan or manual.
(iv) Applicability of foia.--Nothing
in this subsection shall be construed
to authorize the disclosure of any
information that is exempt from
disclosure under section 552(b) of
title 5.
(D) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) * * *
Sec. 60110. Excess flow valves
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) Fire Shutoff Valves or Equivalent Technology.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Equivalent technology.--The term
``equivalent technology'' means any technology
that--
(i) is not an excess flow valve; and
(ii) meets the performance standard
of shutting off gas on a service line
of a distribution system to a dwelling
or other building in the event of a
fire.
(B) Fire-first ignition.--The term ``fire-
first ignition'' means an occurrence in which a
fire originating from a foreign source causes a
natural gas system to fail, release, or ignite.
(C) Fire safety valve.--The term ``fire
safety valve'' means--
(i) a fire shutoff valve; and
(ii) any equivalent technology.
(D) Fire shutoff valve.--The term ``fire
shutoff valve'' means a spring-loaded plug that
is held in place by a fusible link that--
(i) is made of a low-melting-point
alloy;
(ii) is attached to a gas source; and
(iii) melts when exposed to fire,
causing the spring-loaded plug to
close, shutting off the gas to a
dwelling or other building connected to
a service line of a distribution
system.
(2) Study.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Secretary shall complete a study on the
effectiveness of fire safety valves in order to
determine the ability of fire safety valves to
improve public safety through mitigation of
secondary ignitions, such as fire-first
ignitions.
(B) Requirements.--The study under
subparagraph (A) shall evaluate--
(i) various scenarios and
applications for deploying fire safety
valves;
(ii) the current incidence of fire-
first ignition of natural gas
distribution pipelines;
(iii) anticipated reduction of fire-
first ignition risk under various fire
safety valve deployment scenarios,
including--
(I) lowering the likelihood
of gas ignition; and
(II) lowering the impact and
damage of fire-first ignition
incidents;
(iv) the long-term durability,
construction, and effectiveness of fire
safety valves; and
(v) the commercial availability of
fire safety valves for the pipeline
industry.
(3) Rulemaking.--After completing the study described
in paragraph (2), the Secretary may prescribe risk-
based standards on the circumstances under which an
operator of a natural gas distribution system shall be
required to install fire shutoff valves or equivalent
technologies in the system.
Sec. 60111. * * *
Sec. 60112. Pipeline facilities hazardous to life and property
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) Opportunity for State Comment.--The Secretary shall
provide, to any appropriate official of a State in which a
pipeline facility is located and about which a proceeding has
begun under this section, notice and an opportunity to comment
on an agreement the Secretary proposes to make to resolve the
proceeding. State comment shall incorporate comments of
affected local officials and a Tribal official from any
affected Indian Tribe.
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
Sec. 60113. * * *
Sec. 60114. One-call notification systems
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(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)] section
60134(b)(1)(G) 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.
(g) * * *
Sec. 60115. Technical safety standards committees
(a) * * *
(b) Composition and Appointment.--(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) The members of each committee are appointed as follows:
(A) 5 individuals selected from departments,
agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States
Government [and of], Indian Tribes, and the States.
(B) 5 individuals selected from the natural gas or
hazardous liquid industry, as appropriate, after
consulting with industry representatives.
(C) 5 individuals selected from the general public.
(4)(A) * * *
(5) * * *
(c) Committee Reports on Proposed Standards.--(1) * * *
(2) Not later than 90 days after receiving the proposed
standard and supporting analyses, the appropriate committee
shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a report on the
technical feasibility, reasonableness, cost-effectiveness, and
practicability of the proposed standard and include in the
report recommended actions. The Secretary shall publish each
report, including any recommended actions and minority views.
The report if timely made is part of the proceeding for
prescribing the standard. The Secretary is not bound by the
conclusions of the committee. However, if the Secretary rejects
the conclusions of the committee, the Secretary shall publish
the reasons and notify the appropriate committees of Congress
(as defined in section 2 of the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025).
(3) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) Meetings.--Each committee shall meet with the Secretary
at least [up to 4] 2 times annually. Each committee proceeding
shall be recorded. The record of the proceeding shall be
available to the public.
(f) * * *
Sec. 60116. Public education programs
(a) * * *
(b) Modification of Existing Programs.--[Not later than 12
months after the date of enactment of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002] Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025, each owner or
operator of a gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility shall
review its existing public education program for effectiveness
and modify the program as necessary. The completed program
shall include activities to advise affected Indian Tribes,
affected municipalities, school districts, businesses, and
residents of pipeline facility locations. The completed program
shall be submitted to the Secretary or, in the case of an
intrastate pipeline facility operator, the appropriate State
agency, and shall be periodically reviewed by the Secretary or,
in the case of an intrastate pipeline facility operator, the
appropriate State agency.
(c) * * *
Sec. 60117. Administrative
(a) * * *
(b) Enforcement Procedures.--
(1) Process.--In implementing enforcement procedures
under this chapter and part 190 of title 49, Code of
Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), the
Secretary shall--
(A) allow the respondent to request the use
of a consent agreement and consent order to
resolve any matter of fact or law asserted;
(B) allow the respondent and the agency to
convene 1 or more meetings--
(i) for settlement or simplification
of the issues; [or]
(ii) to aid in the disposition of
issues; or
(iii) to allow a recipient of a
warning under section 190.205 of title
49, Code of Federal Regulations (or a
successor regulation), to discuss
claims made in the warning with
relevant staff;
(C) require that the case file in an
enforcement proceeding include all agency
records pertinent to the matters of fact and
law asserted;
(D) allow the respondent to reply to each
post-hearing submission of the agency;
(E) allow the respondent to request that a
hearing be held, and an order be issued, on an
expedited basis;
(F) require that the agency have the burden
of proof, presentation, and persuasion in any
enforcement matter;
(G) require that any order contain findings
of relevant fact and conclusions of law;
(H) require the Office of Pipeline Safety to
file a post-hearing recommendation not later
than 30 days after the deadline for any post-
hearing submission of a respondent;
(I) require an order on a petition for
reconsideration to be issued not later than 120
days after the date on which the petition is
filed; [and]
(J) allow an operator to request that an
issue of controversy or uncertainty be
addressed through a declaratory order in
accordance with section 554(e) of title 5[.];
(K) for civil penalties over $1,000,000,
adjusted each year for inflation, allow the
respondent to request a formal hearing in
accordance with section 554 of title 5,
conducted by an administrative law judge; and
(L) provide a written response to a request
for the withdrawal or modification of a written
warning issued under this section.
[(2) Open to the public.--A hearing under this
section shall be--
[(A) noticed to the public on the website of
the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration; and
[(B) in the case of a formal hearing (as
defined in section 190.3 of title 49, Code of
Federal Regulations (or a successor
regulation)), open to the public.]
(2) Hearing requirements.--A hearing under this
section shall--
(A) be noticed to the public on the website
of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration on its own page titled
``Upcoming Enforcement Hearings'';
(B) provide an orderly and timely process, as
determined by the Secretary;
(C) in the case of a formal hearing, be open
to the public.
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) Testing Facilities Involved in Accidents.--The Secretary
may require testing of a part of a pipeline facility subject to
this chapter that has been involved in or affected by an
accident only after--
(1) notifying the appropriate State official in the
State in which the facility is located and an
appropriate Tribal official from any affected Indian
Tribe; and
(2) attempting to negotiate a mutually acceptable
plan for testing with the owner of the facility and,
when the Secretary considers appropriate, the National
Transportation Safety Board.
(h) * * *
(i) Cooperation.--The Secretary may--
(1) advise, assist, and cooperate with other
departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the
United States Government, the States, Indian Tribes,
and public and private agencies and persons in planning
and developing safety standards and ways to inspect and
test to decide whether those standards have been
complied with;
(2) consult with and make recommendations to other
departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the
Government, State and local governments, Indian Tribes,
and public and private agencies and persons to develop
and encourage activities, including the enactment of
legislation, that will assist in carrying out this
chapter and improve State and local pipeline safety
programs; and
(3) participate in a proceeding involving safety
requirements related to a liquefied natural gas
facility before the Commission or a State authority.
(j) * * *
(k) * * *
(l) Authority for Cooperative Agreements.--To carry out this
chapter, the Secretary may enter into grants, cooperative
agreements, and other transactions with any person, agency, or
instrumentality of the United States, any unit of State or
local government, Indian Tribes, any educational institution,
or any other entity to further the objectives of this chapter.
The objectives of this chapter include the development,
improvement, and promotion of one-call damage prevention
programs, research, risk assessment, and mapping.
(m) * * *
(n) 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, Indian Tribes, 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) * * *
(o) * * *
(p) Emergency Order Authority.--
(1) * * *
(2) Considerations.--
(A) * * *
(B) Consultation.--In considering the factors
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
consult, as the Secretary determines
appropriate, with appropriate Federal agencies,
State agencies, Indian Tribes, and other
entities knowledgeable in pipeline safety or
operations.
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
(5) * * *
(6) * * *
(7) * * *
(8) * * *
(9) * * *
Sec. 60118. Compliance and waivers
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(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] consistent
with pipeline safety.
(B) Hearing.--The Secretary may act on a
waiver under this paragraph only after notice
and comment and an opportunity for a hearing.
(C) Action on application.--Not later than
180 days after receiving an application for a
waiver under this paragraph, the Secretary
shall--
(i) complete any applicable review
relating to the application and act on
the application by--
(I) issuing an order granting
the waiver; or
(II) denying the application;
or
(ii) inform the applicant that
additional time is needed to review the
application, including by providing
notifications of the need for
additional time at least once every 180
days until the waiver is granted or the
application is denied.
(2) * * *
[(3) Statement of reasons.--The Secretary shall state
in an order issued under this subsection the reasons
for granting the waiver.]
(3) Statement of reasons.--The Secretary shall state
in an order issued under this subsection that is
publicly posted on the website of the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration the reasons
for granting or denying the waiver.
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
Sec. 60119. Judicial review
(a) Review of Regulations, Orders, and Other Final Agency
Actions.--(1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this
section, a person, including an Indian Tribe, adversely
affected by a regulation prescribed under this chapter or an
order issued under this chapter may apply for review of the
regulation or order by filing a petition for review in the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit or in the court of appeals of the United States for the
circuit in which the person resides or has its principal place
of business. The petition must be filed not later than 89 days
after the regulation is prescribed or order is issued. The
clerk of the court immediately shall send a copy of the
petition to the Secretary of Transportation.
Sec. 60120. * * *
Sec. 60121. * * *
Sec. 60122. Civil penalties
(a) General Penalties.--(1) A person that the Secretary of
Transportation decides, after written notice and an opportunity
for a hearing, has violated section 60114(b), 60114(d), or
60118(a) of this title or a regulation prescribed or order
issued under this chapter is liable to the United States
Government for a civil penalty of not more than [$200,000]
$400,000 for each violation. A separate violation occurs for
each day the violation continues. The maximum civil penalty
under this paragraph for a related series of violations is
[$2,000,000] $4,000,000.
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(b) Penalty Considerations.--In determining the amount of a
civil penalty under this section--
(1) the Secretary shall consider--
(A) the nature, circumstances, and gravity of
the violation, including adverse impact on the
environment;
(B) with respect to the violator, the degree
of culpability, any history of prior
violations, and any effect on ability to
continue doing business;
(C) good faith in attempting to comply; [and]
(D) self-disclosure and correction of
violations, or actions to correct a violation,
prior to discovery by the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration;
[and]
(E) the timeliness of emergency response
notification, including by reducing penalties
for cases in which incidents are reported
within 10 minutes of a suspected release; and
(F) advanced coordination with State, local,
Tribal, and territorial governmental entities
resulting in the relevant and timely use of
existing public alert notification systems; and
(2) the Secretary may consider--
(A) the economic benefit gained from the
violation without any reduction because of
subsequent damages; and
(B) other matters that justice requires.
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
Sec. 60123. * * *
Sec. 60124. * * *
Sec. 60125. Authorization of appropriations
(a) Gas and Hazardous Liquid.--
(1) In general.--From fees collected under section
60301, there are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary to carry out section 12 of the Pipeline
Safety Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C. 60101 note;
Public Law 107-355) and the provisions of this chapter
relating to gas and hazardous liquid--
(A) [$156,400,000 for fiscal year 2021]
$185,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, of which--
(i) $9,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) [$63,000,000] $83,250,000 shall
be used for making grants;
(B) [$158,500,000 for fiscal year 2022]
$190,365,000 for fiscal year 2027, of which--
(i) $9,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) [$66,000,000] $85,660,000 shall
be used for making grants; [and]
(C) [$162,700,000 for fiscal year 2023]
$195,886,000 for fiscal year 2028, of which--
(i) $9,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) [$69,000,000] $88,150,000 shall
be used for making grants[.];
(D) $201,556,000 for fiscal year 2029, of
which--
(i) $9,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) $90,700,000 shall be used for
making grants; and
(E) $207,412,000 for fiscal year 2030, of
which--
(i) $9,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) $93,340,000 shall be used for
making grants.
(2) Trust fund amounts.--In addition to the amounts
authorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1),
there are authorized to be appropriated from the Oil
Spill Liability Trust Fund established by section
9509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act
of 2002 (49 U.S.C. 60101 note; Public Law 107-355) and
the provisions of this chapter relating to hazardous
liquid--
(A) [$27,000,000 for fiscal year 2021]
$30,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, of which--
(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) [$11,000,000] $13,500,000 shall
be used for making grants;
(B) [$27,650,000 for fiscal year 2022]
$31,000,000 for fiscal year 2027, of which--
(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) [$12,000,000] $13,950,000 shall
be used for making grants; [and]
(C) [$28,700,000 for fiscal year 2023]
$32,000,000 for fiscal year 2028, of which--
(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) [$13,000,000] $14,400,000 shall
be used for making grants[.];
(D) $33,000,000 for fiscal year 2029, of
which--
(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) $14,850,000 shall be used for
making grants; and
(E) 34,000,000 for fiscal year 2030, of
which--
(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry
out section 12 of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C.
60101 note; Public Law 107-355); and
(ii) $15,300,000 shall be used for
making grants.
(3) Underground natural gas storage facility safety
account.--From fees collected under section 60302,
there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
to carry out section 60141 [$8,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2021 through 2023] $7,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
(b) Emergency Response Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may establish a
program for making grants to State, county, and local
governments, and affected Indian Tribes, in high
consequence areas, as defined by the Secretary, for
emergency response management, training, and technical
assistance. 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.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is
authorized to be appropriated [$10,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2021 through 2023 to carry out this
subsection] to carry out this subsection $10,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
(c) * * *
Sec. 60126. * * *
Sec. 60127. * * *
Sec. 60128. * * *
Sec. 60129. Protection of employees providing pipeline safety
information
(a) Discrimination Against Employee.--
(1) * * *
(2) Employer defined.--In this section, the term
``employer'' means--
(A) a person owning or operating a pipeline
facility; [or]
(B) a contractor or subcontractor of [such a
person.] a person described in subparagraph
(A); or
(C) an officer, employee, or agent of a
person described in subparagraph (A).
(b) Department of Labor Complaint Procedure.--
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) Final order.--
(A) * * *
(B) Remedy.--If, in response to a complaint
filed under paragraph (1), the Secretary of
Labor determines that a violation of subsection
(a) has occurred, the Secretary of Labor shall
order the person or persons who committed such
violation to--
(i) take affirmative action to abate
the violation;
(ii) reinstate the complainant to his
or her former position together with
the compensation (including back pay
with interest) and restore the terms,
conditions, and privileges associated
with his or her employment; and
(iii) provide compensatory damages to
the complainant, including compensation
for any special damages sustained as a
result of the discrimination.
If such an order is issued under this paragraph, the
Secretary of Labor, at the request of the complainant, shall
assess against the person or persons against whom the order is
issued a sum equal to the aggregate amount of all costs and
expenses (including attorney's and expert witness fees)
reasonably incurred, as determined by the Secretary of Labor,
by the complainant for, or in connection with, the bringing the
complaint upon which the order was issued.
(C) * * *
(D) * * *
(4) * * *
(5) * * *
(6) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
Sec. 60130. Pipeline safety information grants to communities
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) Funding.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), out of
amounts made available under [section 2(b) of the PIPES
Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-183; 130 Stat. 515), the
Secretary shall use $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2021 through 2023 to carry out this section.] section
60125(a)(1), the Secretary shall use to carry out this
section--
(A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;
(B) $2,750,000 for fiscal year 2027;
(C) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2028;
(D) $3,250,000 for fiscal year 2029; and
(E) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.
(2) Improving technical assistance.--From the amounts
used to carry out this section under paragraph (1) each
fiscal year, the Secretary shall award [$1,000,000] to
an eligible applicant through a competitive selection
process for the purpose of improving the quality of
technical assistance provided to communities or
individuals under this [section.] section--
(A) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;
(B) $1,250,000 for fiscal year 2027;
(C) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2028;
(D) $1,750,000 for fiscal year 2029; and
(E) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.
(3) Limitation.--Any amounts used to carry out this
section shall not be derived from user fees collected
under section 60301.
(d) Deadlines.--
(1) Notice of funding opportunity.--Not later than 60
days after the date on which funds are made available
to carry out this section, the Secretary shall publish
a notice of funding opportunity for the funds.
(2) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant
under this section, an eligible applicant shall submit
to the Secretary an application--
(A) in such form and containing such
information as the Secretary considers to be
appropriate; and
(B) by such date as the Secretary may
establish, subject to the condition that the
date shall be not later than 60 days after the
date on which the Secretary publishes the
notice of funding opportunity under paragraph
(1).
(3) Selection.--Not later than 120 days after the
date on which the Secretary publishes the notice of
funding opportunity under paragraph (1), the Secretary
shall announce the selection by the Secretary of
eligible applicants to receive grants in accordance
with this section.
[(d)](e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Technical assistance.--The term ``technical
assistance'' means engineering, research, and other
scientific analysis of pipeline safety issues,
including the promotion of public participation on
technical pipeline safety issues in proceedings related
to this chapter.
(2) Eligible applicant.--The term ``eligible
applicant'' means a nonprofit entity that--
(A) is a public safety advocate;
(B) has pipeline safety expertise;
(C) is able to provide individuals and
communities with technical assistance; and
(D) was established with funds designated for
the purpose of community service through the
implementation of section 3553 of title 18
relating to violations of this chapter.
Sec. 60131. * * *
Sec. 60132. National pipeline mapping system
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) Technical Assistance To Improve Local Response
Capabilities.--The Secretary may provide technical assistance
to [State and local] State, local, and Tribal officials to
improve local response capabilities for pipeline emergencies by
adapting information available through the National Pipeline
Mapping System to software used by emergency response personnel
responding to pipeline emergencies.
(d) * * *
(e) Program To Promote Awareness of National Pipeline Mapping
System.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this subsection, the Secretary shall develop and implement a
program promoting greater awareness of the existence of the
National Pipeline Mapping System to [State and local] State,
local, and Tribal emergency responders and other interested
parties. The program shall include guidance on how to use the
National Pipeline Mapping System to locate pipelines in
communities and local jurisdictions.
(f) * * *
Sec. 60133. Coordination of environmental reviews
(a) Interagency Committee.--
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(4) * * *
(5) State and local consultation.--In carrying out
this subsection, the Interagency Committee shall
consult with appropriate State [and local], local, and
Tribal environmental, pipeline safety, and emergency
response officials, and such other officials as the
Interagency Committee considers appropriate.
(b) * * *
(c) Savings Provisions; No Preemption.--Nothing in this
section shall be construed--
(1) * * *
(2) to preempt applicable Federal, State, Tribal, or
local environmental law.
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
Sec. 60134. State damage prevention programs
(a) * * *
(b) State Damage Prevention Program Elements.--[An]
(1) In general.--An effective damage prevention
program includes the following elements:
[(1)](A) 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)](B) 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)](C) A process for reviewing the adequacy
of a pipeline operator's internal performance
measures regarding persons performing locating
services and quality assurance programs.
[(4)](D) 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)](E) A process for fostering and ensuring
active participation by all stakeholders in
public education for damage prevention
activities.
[(6)](F) A process for resolving disputes
that defines the State authority's role as a
partner and facilitator to resolve issues.
[(7)](G) 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)](H) 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)](I) A process for review and analysis of
the effectiveness of each program element,
including a means for implementing improvements
identified by such program reviews.
(J) A State one-call program that includes,
or is making substantial progress toward
including, the one-call leading practices
described in paragraph (2).
(2) One-call leading practices.--The one-call leading
practices referred to in paragraph (1)(J) are the
following:
(A) Restricting the size or scope of a one-
call ticket for standard locate requests (which
may include process exceptions for special
large project tickets).
(B) Restricting the longevity of a one-call
ticket for standard locate requests (which may
include process exceptions for special large
project tickets).
(C) Specifying tolerance (soft-dig only) zone
horizontal dimensions.
(D) Specifying tolerance zone requirements.
(E) Specifying emergency excavation
notification requirements.
(F) Specifying the responsibilities of
excavators, including the reporting of damages
or suspected damages.
(G) Defining who is an excavator and what is
considered excavation.
(H) Requiring the use of white-lining.
(I) Requiring a positive response before
excavation begins, such as a utility,
municipality, or other entity that places the
relevant marks positively responding to the
notification center, and the excavator checking
for that positive response before beginning
excavation.
(J) Requiring that newly installed
underground facilities be locatable with
commercially available technology.
(K) Requiring the marking of sewer lines and
laterals.
(L) Specifying the qualifications of, and
requirements for, those excavators performing
trenchless excavation activities that are not
subject to pipeline construction requirements
under part 192 or 195 of title 49, Code of
Federal Regulations (or successor regulations).
(c) Factors to Consider.--[In]
(1) In general.--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.
(2) Evaluation criteria.--The evaluation criteria
used by the Secretary for determining the effectiveness
of a State damage prevention program shall include
consideration of whether the State, at a minimum--
(A) engages in effective, active, and
meaningful enforcement of State one-call laws,
including the efficacy of fines and penalties;
(B) requires reporting to the local one-call
center of excavation damage events that affect
pipelines and other underground facilities that
are not privately owned, including (to the
extent available at the time of the
reporting)--
(i) information about the nature of
the incident, including its apparent
cause;
(ii) the organizations involved;
(iii) the impact to public safety,
utility operations, and customer
service; and
(iv) the impact to the environment;
and
(C) limits exemptions to State damage
prevention laws.
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) * * *
(h) * * *
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary to provide grants under this
section [$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2023.
Such funds shall remain] $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2026 through 2030, to remain available until expended.
Sec. 60135. * * *
Sec. 60136. * * *
Sec. 60137. * * *
Sec. 60138. * * *
Sec. 60139. * * *
Sec. 60140. * * *
Sec. 60141. * * *
Sec. 60142. Pipeline safety enhancement programs
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) Duration.--
(1) * * *
(2) Requirement.--The Secretary shall not establish
any additional safety-enhancing testing programs under
subsection (a) after the date that is [3 years after
the date of enactment of this section] 5 years after
the date of enactment of the PIPELINE Safety Act of
2025.
(d) Safety Standards.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall require, as a
condition of approval of a testing program under
subsection (a), that the safety measures in the testing
program are designed to achieve a level of safety that
is greater than or equal to the level of safety
required by this chapter.
[(2) Determination.--
[(A) In general.--The Secretary may issue an
order under subparagraph (A) of section
60118(c)(1) to accomplish the purpose of a
testing program for a term not to exceed the
time period described in subsection (c) if the
condition described in paragraph (1) is met, as
determined by the Secretary.
[(B) Limitation.--An order under subparagraph
(A) shall pertain only to those regulations
that would otherwise prevent the use of the
safety technology to be tested under the
testing program.]
(2) Determination.--
(A) In general.--To accomplish the purpose of
a testing program, the Secretary may issue an
order waiving compliance with any part of an
applicable standard prescribed under this
chapter if the condition described in paragraph
(1) is met, as determined by the Secretary.
(B) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not
require testing program applicants to use the
nonemergency waiver process, or to otherwise
meet the requirements of the nonemergency
waiver process, established under section
60118(c)(1).
(3) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) * * *
[(h) Authority to Terminate Program.--The Secretary shall
immediately terminate a testing program under subsection (a) if
continuation of the testing program would not be consistent
with the goals and objectives of this chapter.]
(h) Authority to Terminate Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall immediately
terminate a testing program under subsection (a) if
continuation of the testing program would not be
consistent with the goals and objectives of this
chapter.
(2) Notification.--Not later than 10 days after the
termination of a testing program under paragraph (1),
the Secretary shall notify the relevant pipeline
operators of how they can address any deficiencies
identified by the Secretary.
(3) Reinstatement.--If the Secretary determines that
the deficiencies identified under paragraph (2) are
addressed, the Secretary shall reinstate the testing
program.
(i) * * *
(j) * * *
(k) * * *
(l) * * *
(m) Approval Process.--Establishment of a testing program
under subsection (a) shall not be considered a major Federal
action (as defined in section 111 of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4336e)) for purposes of that Act
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Sec. 60143. Idled pipelines
(a) * * *
(b) Rulemaking.--
[(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of the PIPES Act of 2020, the
Secretary shall promulgate regulations prescribing the
applicability of the pipeline safety requirements to
idled natural or other gas transmission and hazardous
liquid pipelines.]
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of enactment of the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025,
the Secretary shall promulgate regulations prescribing
the applicability of the pipeline safety requirements
to--
(A) idled natural gas transmission pipelines;
(B) idled other gas transmission pipelines;
and
(C) idled hazardous liquid pipelines.
(2) * * *
Sec. 60144. Voluntary information-sharing system
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means
the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration.
(2) Governing board.--The term ``Governing Board''
means the governing board established under subsection
(d)(1).
(3) Issue analysis team.--The term ``Issue Analysis
Team'' means an Issue Analysis Team established under
subsection (g)(1).
(4) Program manager.--The term ``Program Manager''
means the Program Manager described in subsection (e).
(5) Third-party data manager.--The term ``Third-Party
Data Manager'' means the Third-Party Data Manager
appointed under subsection (f)(1).
(6) VIS.--The term ``VIS'' means the voluntary
information-sharing system established under subsection
(b)(1).
(b) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall
establish a confidential and nonpunitive voluntary
information-sharing system to encourage the sharing of
pipeline safety data and information in order to
improve the safety of gas transmission pipelines, gas
distribution pipelines, liquefied natural gas
facilities, underground natural gas storage facilities,
and hazardous liquid pipelines.
(2) Requirement.--The VIS shall be implemented and
managed in accordance with the report entitled
``Pipeline Safety Voluntary Information-Sharing System
Recommendation Report'' prepared under section 10 of
the PIPES Act of 2016 (49 U.S.C. 60108 note; Public Law
114-183) by the Voluntary Information Sharing System
Working Group convened under that section.
(3) Purpose.--The purpose of the VIS shall be to
serve as a comprehensive and integrated system--
(A) to gather, evaluate, and quantify
critical pipeline safety data and information;
and
(B) to share recommended remediation measures
and lessons learned across the pipeline
industry in an efficient and confidential
manner.
(c) Governance.--The VIS shall be governed, in accordance
with this section, by the Governing Board, with support from--
(1) the Program Manager;
(2) the Third-Party Data Manager; and
(3) 1 or more Issue Analysis Teams.
(d) Governing Board.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this section, the Administrator,
after consulting with public, government, and private
pipeline safety stakeholders, shall establish a
governing board for the VIS.
(2) Composition.--
(A) In general.--The Governing Board shall be
composed of 15 members who shall represent a
balanced cross-section of pipeline safety
stakeholders, in accordance with subparagraphs
(B) and (C).
(B) Representation.--The Governing Board
shall be composed of the following members:
(i) 5 individuals selected from
relevant pipeline safety departments,
agencies, or instrumentalities of the
Federal Government or State or
territorial governments, 1 of whom
shall be the Administrator (or a
designee of the Administrator).
(ii) 5 individuals selected from the
gas or hazardous liquid industries,
such as individuals representing or
otherwise associated with--
(I) operators;
(II) trade associations;
(III) inspection technology,
coating, or cathodic protection
vendors;
(IV) standards development
organizations;
(V) research and development
consortia; or
(VI) pipeline inspection
organizations.
(iii) 5 individuals selected from
general public safety advocacy
organizations with relevant pipeline
safety expertise, including--
(I) pipeline safety and
environmental public interest
groups;
(II) public institutions of
higher education with pipeline
safety expertise; and
(III) nonprofit employee
labor organizations.
(C) Requirements.--
(i) Pipeline industry.--At least 1
member of the Governing Board appointed
under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall be a
representative of the pipeline
industry.
(ii) Pipeline safety public interest
groups.--At least 1 member of the
Governing Board appointed under
subparagraph (B)(iii) shall be a
representative of a pipeline safety
public interest group.
(3) Terms.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), each member of the Governing
Board shall be appointed for a term of 3 years.
(B) Initial members.--In appointing the
initial members of the Governing Board, the
Administrator shall appoint members to terms of
1, 2, or 3 years to ensure that each year
thereafter--
(i) the terms of 5 members will
expire; and
(ii) the term of not less than 1 and
not more than 2 members described in
each of clauses (i) through (iii) of
paragraph (2)(B) will expire.
(C) Reappointment.--A member or former member
of the Governing Board appointed under clause
(i) or (ii) of paragraph (2)(B) may be
reappointed, but may only serve for a total of
3 terms.
(4) Co-chairs.--
(A) In general.--The Governing Board shall be
co-chaired by--
(i) the Administrator (or a designee
of the Administrator);
(ii) a representative of the pipeline
industry appointed under paragraph
(2)(B)(ii), who shall be appointed co-
chair by the Administrator, with the
advice and consent of the Governing
Board; and
(iii) a representative of a pipeline
safety public interest group, who shall
be appointed co-chair by the
Administrator, with the advice and
consent of the Governing Board.
(B) Responsibilities of co-chairs.--The co-
chairs shall be jointly responsible for
organizing and conducting meetings of the
Governing Board.
(5) Authority.--The Governing Board shall have
authority--
(A) to govern and provide strategic oversight
of the VIS;
(B) to develop governance documents,
including a charter for the Governing Board
that shall--
(i) be made available to the public;
and
(ii) describe--
(I) the scope of the
authority of the Governing
Board; and
(II) the objectives of the
Governing Board;
(C) to select and appoint the Third-Party
Data Manager in accordance with subsection (f);
(D) to approve the criteria and procedures
governing how the Third-Party Data Manager will
receive and accept pipeline safety data and
information;
(E) to establish, and appoint members of,
Issue Analysis Teams in accordance with
subsection (g);
(F) to collaborate with Issue Analysis Teams
to identify issues and topics to be analyzed by
the Issue Analysis Teams;
(G) to collaborate with Issue Analysis Teams
to specify the type of pipeline safety data and
information necessary for the Issue Analysis
Teams to analyze the issues and topics
identified under subparagraph (F);
(H) to determine the information to be
disseminated by the VIS;
(I) to determine the reports to be
disseminated by the VIS;
(J) to issue, not less frequently than
annually, publicly available reports on--
(i) VIS processes;
(ii) the membership of the Governing
Board;
(iii) issues and topics being
investigated and analyzed by Issue
Analysis Teams or the Governing Board;
(iv) pipeline safety data and
information that the VIS has requested
for submission to the VIS; and
(v) safety trends identified by the
Administrator, Issue Analysis Teams, or
the Governing Board; and
(K) to perform such other functions that the
Governing Board determines are--
(i) necessary or appropriate; and
(ii) consistent with the purpose of
the VIS described in subsection (b)(3).
(6) Decisionmaking.--
(A) In general.--Decisions and approvals of
the Governing Board shall be made by a super-
majority of the members, as described in
subparagraph (B).
(B) Supermajority described.--A supermajority
referred to in subparagraph (A) shall consist
of not fewer than--
(i) \2/3\ of the total members of the
Governing Board; and
(ii) 1 additional member of the
Governing Board.
(e) Program Manager.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator (or a designee of
the Administrator) shall serve as the Program Manager
for the VIS.
(2) Responsibilities.--The Program Manager shall
provide the day-to-day program management and
administrative support for the VIS, including oversight
of the Third-Party Data Manager.
(f) Third-Party Data Manager.--
(1) In general.--The Governing Board shall appoint a
Third-Party Data Manager to provide data management and
data oversight services for the VIS.
(2) Qualifications.--The Third-Party Data Manager
shall have expertise in data protection, aggregation,
and analytics.
(3) Responsibilities.--In carrying out the services
described in paragraph (1), the Third-Party Data
Manager shall--
(A) receive and secure pipeline safety data
and information submitted to the VIS;
(B) accept pipeline safety data and
information submitted to the VIS that meets the
criteria and procedures approved by the
Governing Board under subsection (d)(5)(D);
(C) de-identify, store, and manage pipeline
safety data and information that is accepted by
the VIS;
(D) collaborate with Issue Analysis Teams to
analyze and aggregate pipeline safety data and
information that is accepted by the VIS;
(E) prepare reports as requested by the
Governing Board regarding the type of pipeline
safety data and information that is managed by
the VIS; and
(F) make recommendations to the Governing
Board regarding the management of pipeline
safety data and information by the VIS, as
appropriate.
(g) Issue Analysis Teams.--
(1) In general.--The Governing Board shall establish,
and appoint the members of, 1 or more Issue Analysis
Teams as the Governing Board determines to be
appropriate and relevant to the pipeline safety work of
the VIS.
(2) Qualifications.--An Issue Analysis Team
established under paragraph (1) shall--
(A) subject to subparagraph (B), consist of
pipeline safety technical and subject matter
experts; and
(B) may include, as appropriate,
representatives from public safety advocacy
organizations described in subsection
(d)(2)(B)(iii).
(3) Responsibilities.--An Issue Analysis Team shall--
(A) work with the Third-Party Data Manager to
aggregate and analyze pipeline safety data and
information submitted to the VIS relating to
the issues and topics analyzed by the Issue
Analysis Team; and
(B) submit internal reports and
recommendations to the Governing Board on those
issues and topics.
(h) Application of FACA.--Chapter 10 of title 5 (commonly
referred to as the ``Federal Advisory Committee Act'') shall
not apply to--
(1) the VIS;
(2) the Governing Board; or
(3) any Issue Analysis Team.
(i) Participation in the VIS.--
(1) In general.--The submission of data and
information to the VIS by any person shall be
voluntary, with no person compelled to participate in,
or to submit data or information to any person for
inclusion in, the VIS.
(2) Requirement.--The VIS shall not accept data or
information relating to an operator if the operator has
not authorized the submission of that data or
information for inclusion in the VIS.
(3) Encouraging information sharing.--The Governing
Board shall encourage the voluntary sharing of pipeline
safety data and information among--
(A) operators of gas transmission pipelines,
gas distribution pipelines, and hazardous
liquid pipelines;
(B) employees of those operators;
(C) labor unions representing those
employees;
(D) contractors of the operators described in
subparagraph (A);
(E) in-line inspection service providers;
(F) non-destructive evaluation experts;
(G) the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration; and
(H) representatives of--
(i) State pipeline safety agencies;
(ii) relevant Tribal agencies;
(iii) pipeline safety public interest
groups;
(iv) manufacturers of gas
transmission, gas distribution, and
hazardous liquid pipeline
infrastructure and equipment; and
(v) relevant research and academic
institutions.
(4) Limitation on inclusion of data and information
in the vis.--Pipeline safety data and information
accepted by the Third-Party Data Manager for inclusion
in the VIS under subsection (f)(3)(B) shall be related
to the issues and topics identified by the Governing
Board for analysis by an Issue Analysis Team under
subsection (d)(5)(F).
(5) Types of data and information included in the
vis.--Pipeline safety data and information accepted by
the Third-Party Data Manager for inclusion in the VIS
under subsection (f)(3)(B) may include--
(A) pipeline integrity risk analysis
information;
(B) lessons learned from accidents and near
misses;
(C) process improvements;
(D) technology deployment practices;
(E) information obtained through VIS pipeline
safety surveys of pipeline operator employees,
subject to the condition that such surveys are
voluntarily agreed to by the pipeline operator;
(F) pipeline safety data and information
which may lead to the identification of
pipeline safety risks, as specified by the
Governing Board; and
(G) any other relevant data or information,
as determined by the Governing Board.
(j) Confidentiality.--
(1) In general.--To facilitate the sharing of
otherwise nonpublic pipeline safety data and
information with the VIS, the data and information
accepted, stored, managed, analyzed, or produced by the
VIS--
(A) shall be kept confidential by the VIS;
and
(B) except as otherwise provided in this
section, is not subject to disclosure by the
VIS under any other law.
(2) Prohibition.--Except as provided in paragraph
(3), no person, including the Program Manager, the
Third-Party Data Manager, any member of the Governing
Board, and any member of an Issue Analysis Team, and no
Federal, State, local, or Tribal agency having or
obtaining access to nonpublic information accepted,
analyzed, stored, managed, or produced by the VIS may
release or communicate that nonpublic information from
the VIS, either in an identified or de-identified form,
to any person who does not have the authority to view
VIS data.
(3) Exception.--
(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraphs
(1) and (2) and subsections (k) and (l), on
approval by the Governing Board under
subparagraph (B), the Governing Board or the
Administrator may disclose de-identified
nonpublic information obtained by the VIS.
(B) Approval.--Approval to disclose de-
identified nonpublic information under
subparagraph (A)--
(i) shall be based on an analysis of
the de-identified nonpublic
information; and
(ii) may, in the sole discretion of
the Governing Board, consist of any
safety findings or recommendations that
the Governing Board determines to
publish or authorizes the Administrator
to publish to improve pipeline safety.
(C) Public reports.--In issuing public
reports under subsection (d)(5)(J), the
Governing Board shall approve the disclosure of
de-identified nonpublic information obtained by
the VIS that the Governing Board determines is
necessary to adequately describe and illustrate
the issues and topics being investigated and
analyzed by Issue Analysis Teams or the
Governing Board.
(4) Savings provision.--This subsection does not
apply to public information that may be submitted to
the VIS.
(k) Applicability of FOIA.--
(1) Exemption.--Any nonpublic information that is
accepted, stored, managed, analyzed, or produced by the
VIS and subsequently obtained by the Secretary or the
Administrator from the VIS is exempt from the
requirements of section 552 of title 5.
(2) Applicability.--For purposes of paragraph (1),
this section shall be considered to be a statute
described in section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5.
(l) Exclusion of VIS Information in Litigation and Other
Proceedings.--
(1) Excluded evidence.--Except as provided in
paragraph (3), any nonpublic information that is
accepted, stored, managed, analyzed, or produced by the
VIS may not be obtained from the VIS--
(A) for use as evidence for any purpose in
any Federal, State, local, Tribal, or private
litigation, including any action or proceeding;
or
(B) to initiate any enforcement action or
civil litigation against a pipeline operator or
the employees or contractors of a pipeline
operator relating to a probable violation under
this chapter (including any regulation
promulgated or order issued under this
chapter).
(2) Exclusion from discovery.--Except as provided in
paragraph (3), any nonpublic information that is
accepted, stored, managed, analyzed, or produced by the
VIS shall not be subject to discovery from the VIS in
any Federal, State, local, Tribal, or private
litigation or other proceeding.
(3) Limitations on exclusions.--The exclusions
described in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply to
data or information that--
(A) is evidence of a criminal violation;
(B) is not related to the purpose of the VIS
described in subsection (b)(3);
(C) is otherwise required to be reported to
the Secretary under part 190, 191 (including
information about an incident or accident),
192, 194, 195, or 199 of title 49, Code of
Federal Regulations (or successor regulations);
(D) is required to be reported to a State
authority under State pipeline safety laws; or
(E) is developed or obtained from a source
other than the VIS, including through discovery
from a person or an entity other than the VIS
in an enforcement action or private litigation.
(m) Effect on Discovery.--Except as provided in subsection
(l)(2), nothing in this section or any rule or regulation
promulgated under this section--
(1) creates a defense to a discovery request; or
(2) otherwise limits or affects the discovery of
pipeline safety data and information arising from a
cause of action authorized under any other Federal,
State, or local law.
(n) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this section affects any
Federal, State, or local pipeline safety law.
(o) Annual Reports.--Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall
submit to Congress, by the end of that fiscal year, a report on
the status of the VIS.
(p) Funding.--
(1) Sustainable funding.--The Secretary shall--
(A) explore sustainable funding sources for
the VIS, including public-private partnerships;
and
(B) to the maximum extent practicable,
sustainably fund the VIS through the use of
those sustainable funding sources.
(2) Limited additional funding.--In addition to the
fees collected under section 60301, the Secretary may
collect an additional $5,000,000 under that section for
each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to establish,
implement, and manage the VIS.
* * * * * * *
ALASKA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE ACT
* * * * * * *
[15 U.S.C. 720n(d)]
SEC. 116. LOAN GUARANTEES.
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) Loan Terms and Fees.--[(1) The Secretary]
(1) Loan terms.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary may issue
Federal guarantee instruments under this
section that take into account repayment
profiles and grace periods justified by project
cash flows and project-specific considerations.
[The term]
(B) Duration.--The term of any loan
guaranteed under this section shall not exceed
30 years.
[(2) An eligible]
(2) Fees.--
(A) Administrative expenses.--
(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Secretary
shall charge, and collect on or after
the date of the financial close of an
obligation, a fee for a guarantee in an
amount that the Secretary determines is
sufficient to cover applicable
administrative expenses (including any
costs associated with third-party
consultants engaged by the Secretary).
(ii) Availability.--Fees collected
under this paragraph shall--
(I) be deposited by the
Secretary into the Treasury;
and
(II) remain available to the
Secretary, without further
appropriation, until expended
to cover applicable
administrative expenses
described in clause (i).
(iii) Reduction in fee amount.--
Notwithstanding clause (i), and subject
to the availability of appropriations,
the Secretary may reduce the amount of
a fee for a guarantee under this
subparagraph.
(B) Debt obligations.--An eligible lender may
assess and collect from the borrower such other
fees and costs associated with the application
and origination of the loan or other debt
obligation as are reasonable and customary for
a project finance transaction in the oil and
gas sector.
(e) * * *
(f) * * *
(g) * * *
* * * * * * *
PIPES ACT OF 2020
* * * * * * *
[Public Law 116-260; 134 Stat. 2220]
SEC. 106. REGULATORY UPDATES.
(a) Definition of Outstanding Mandate.--[In this section, the
term ``outstanding mandate'' means--]
(1) In general.--In this section, the term
``outstanding mandate'' means a final rule described in
paragraph (2) that--
(A) is required to be issued by the Secretary
(including any subordinate of the Secretary);
and
(B) has not been published in the Federal
Register.
(2) Final rule described.--A final rule referred to
in paragraph (1) is any of the following:
[(1)](A) [a final] A final rule required to
be issued under the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory
Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (Public
Law 112-90; 125 Stat. 1904) [that has not been
published in the Federal Register;].
[(2)](B) [a final] A final rule required to
be issued under the PIPES Act of 2016 (Public
Law 114-183; 130 Stat. 514) [that has not been
published in the Federal Register; and].
[(3)](C) [any other] Any other final rule
regarding gas or hazardous liquid pipeline
facilities required to be issued under this Act
or an Act enacted prior to the date of
enactment of this Act [that has not been
published in the Federal Register].
(D) A final rule required to be issued under
the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025.
(b) Requirements.--
(1) Periodic updates.--Not later than 30 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, and every 30 days
thereafter until a final rule [referred to in
paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a) is
published in the Federal Register] described in
subsection (a)(2) is published in the Federal Register
with respect to the applicable outstanding mandate, the
Secretary shall publish on a publicly available website
of the Department of Transportation an update regarding
the status of each outstanding mandate in accordance
with subsection (c).
(2) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) Required Briefing.--If the Secretary fails to update the
website as required under subsection (b)(1), an appropriate
employee of the Administration shall provide an in-person
briefing to the relevant committees of Congress every 30 days
until the requirements of that subsection are met.
(e) Optional Briefing.--Annually, the Administrator shall
offer to provide a briefing, by the Administrator or a
designee, to the relevant committees of Congress on the status
of outstanding mandates.
(f) Restriction of Funds.--If a requirement of subsection (b)
is not met for over 90 days, no funds authorized or
appropriated may be used to support travel for the
Administrator or the Deputy Administrator of the
Administration, unless necessary for the response to or
investigation of a pipeline or hazardous materials incident.
* * * * * * *
PIPELINE SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2002
* * * * * * *
[49 U.S.C. 60101 note; Public Law 107-355]
SEC. 12. PIPELINE INTEGRITY, SAFETY, AND RELIABILITY RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT.
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) * * *
(d) * * *
(e) * * *
(f) Pipeline Integrity Program.--Of the amounts available in
the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund established by section 9509
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9509),
[$3,000,000] $2,500,000 shall be transferred to the Secretary
of Transportation, as provided in appropriation Acts, to carry
out programs for detection, prevention, and mitigation of oil
spills for each of [the fiscal years 2021 through 2023] fiscal
years 2026 through 2030.
(g) * * *
(h) * * *
(i) * * *
* * * * * * *
[all]