I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 795 To require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on the eco- nomic and environmental risks to the Great Lakes of spills or leaks of oil, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 25, 2019 Mrs. DINGELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on the economic and environmental risks to the Great Lakes of spills or leaks of oil, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserve Our Lakes 4 and Keep Our Environment Safe Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H795.IH H795 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 795 IH (1) the Great Lakes are an invaluable national 1 resource, containing one-fifth of the world’s fresh 2 surface water and 95 percent of the United States 3 freshwater supply; 4 (2) over 40,000,000 people depend on the Great 5 Lakes for fresh drinking water; 6 (3) the Great Lakes provide 56,000,000,000 7 gallons of water per day for municipal, agricultural 8 and industrial use; 9 (4) there are more than 3,500 species of plants 10 and animals within the Great Lakes ecosystem; 11 (5) hundreds of thousands of jobs, tied to the 12 $7,000,000,000 recreational fishing and 13 $16,000,000,000 recreational boating industries, di- 14 rectly depend on the Great Lakes; 15 (6) currently, several million gallons per day of 16 hazardous liquids are transported by pipeline across 17 various points along the Great Lakes; 18 (7) modeling studies by the University of Michi- 19 gan in 2014 and 2016 have concluded that an oil 20 spill originating from a pipeline under the Straits of 21 Mackinac would present particularly severe con- 22 sequences, potentially impacting over 700 miles of 23 Great Lakes shoreline; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H795.IH H795 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 795 IH (8) a joint NOAA-U.S. Coast Guard guidebook 1 on oil spill response planning in marine environ- 2 ments states that, during the first 24 to 48 hours 3 of open water exposure, most oil spills become dif- 4 ficult to recover, burn, or chemically disperse; 5 (9) swift currents beneath the straits and wa- 6 terways which connect the Great Lakes could rapidly 7 disperse oil spill contaminants following a pipeline 8 breach; 9 (10) certain pipelines on the Great Lakes are 10 located in close proximity to municipal drinking 11 water collection intakes for millions of people; and 12 (11) the United States should seek to protect 13 the Great Lakes, as a unique national asset, from 14 unreasonable risk of environmental and economic 15 harm. 16 SEC. 3. STUDY ON ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS 17 TO THE GREAT LAKES. 18 (a) STUDY.—Notwithstanding a pipeline integrity 19 management program, integrity management assessment 20 schedule, or considerations by the Secretary of Transpor- 21 tation resulting in a corrective action order pursuant to 22 section 60112 of title 49, United States Code, not later 23 than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 24 the Secretary shall, in consultation with the United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H795.IH H795 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 795 IH Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 1 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and other agen- 2 cies as appropriate, conduct a study to determine the eco- 3 nomic and environmental risks to the Great Lakes of spills 4 or leaks of oil or other hazardous liquids in the Straits 5 of Mackinac from a rupture, breakage, or other failure of 6 onshore, underwater pipeline facilities within the Straits. 7 (b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub- 8 section (a) shall— 9 (1) meet the content requirements of an envi- 10 ronmental impact statement as described in part 11 1502 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations; 12 (2) describe the potential impacts of such spills 13 or leaks to the public health or welfare, wildlife pop- 14 ulations, ecosystems, shorelines, public and private 15 property, economic activity, and water quality in the 16 Great Lakes and connecting waterways; 17 (3) include an assessment of spill responses in 18 a variety of likely and worst-case spill scenarios in 19 those waters; and 20 (4) include the supplemental study conducted 21 under subsection (c). 22 (c) SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY.—The Secretary of 23 Transportation shall conduct, in collaboration with pipe- 24 line facility operators and any necessary agencies, a sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H795.IH H795 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 795 IH plemental study to evaluate the condition and structural 1 integrity of onshore, underwater pipeline facilities in the 2 Straits of Mackinac, taking into consideration the age, 3 construction materials, external and internal corrosion, 4 weld integrity, pressure, underwater currents, possible ex- 5 ternal damage caused by anchor strikes or dragging by 6 recreational or cargo vessels, and the presence of in-line 7 shutoff valves. Such supplemental study shall utilize both 8 internal inspection technology and pipeline route surveys, 9 depth of cover surveys, pressure tests, external corrosion 10 direct assessment, or other technology that the operator 11 demonstrates can further the understanding of the condi- 12 tion of the pipeline facility. 13 (d) TERMINATION OF OPERATION.—Not later than 14 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 15 Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 16 Safety Administration shall terminate the operations of an 17 onshore, underwater pipeline facility located in the Straits 18 of Mackinac if the Administrator determines that, based 19 on the studies conducted under subsections (a) and (c), 20 such facility poses a sufficient risk of hazard to life, prop- 21 erty, or the environment to necessitate the termination. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H795.IH H795 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS