Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2139 To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve pipeline safety, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 8, 2019 Mrs. TRAHAN (for herself, Mr. MOULTON, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve pipeline safety, 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 ‘‘Leonel Rondon Pipe- 4 line Safety Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2139 IH SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT PLANS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 60109(e) of title 49, 2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(7) IN GENERAL.— 5 ‘‘(A) EVALUATION OF RISK.—Not later 6 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 7 paragraph, the Secretary shall promulgate regu- 8 lations that ensure that each distribution integ- 9 rity management plan developed by an operator 10 of a distribution pipeline includes an evaluation 11 of— 12 ‘‘(i) the risks resulting from the pres- 13 ence of cast iron pipes and mains in the 14 distribution system; and 15 ‘‘(ii) the risks that could lead to or re- 16 sult from the operation of a distribution 17 pipeline above the maximum allowable op- 18 erating pressure (as described in section 19 192.619 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu- 20 lations (or successor regulations)). 21 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—In the evaluations 22 required in a plan under subparagraph (A), the 23 regulations promulgated by the Secretary shall 24 ensure that the distribution integrity manage- 25 ment plan evaluates future potential threats in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2139 IH a manner that considers factors other than past 1 observed abnormal operating conditions (as de- 2 fined in section 192.803 of title 49, Code of 3 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)) 4 in ranking risks and identifying measures to 5 mitigate those risks under that subparagraph, 6 so that operators avoid using a risk rating of 7 zero for low probability events unless otherwise 8 supported by engineering analysis. 9 ‘‘(C) DEADLINES.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 11 180 days after the date of enactment of 12 this paragraph, each operator of a dis- 13 tribution pipeline shall submit to the Sec- 14 retary or to the relevant certified State au- 15 thority, if applicable, a copy of— 16 ‘‘(I) the distribution integrity 17 management plan of the operator; 18 ‘‘(II) the emergency response 19 plan under section 192.615 of title 49, 20 Code of Federal Regulations (or suc- 21 cessor regulations); and 22 ‘‘(III) the procedural manual for 23 operations, maintenance, and emer- 24 gencies under section 192.605 of title 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2139 IH 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or 1 successor regulations). 2 ‘‘(ii) UPDATES.—Each operator of a 3 distribution pipeline shall submit to the 4 Secretary an updated plan or manual de- 5 scribed in clause (i) by not later than 60 6 days after the date of the update.’’. 7 (b) MONITORING.—Section 60105(e) of title 49, 8 United States Code, is amended— 9 (1) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘A 10 State’’ and inserting the following: 11 ‘‘(2) COOPERATION.—A State’’; 12 (2) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 13 the following: 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(3) AUDIT PROGRAM.—Not later than 1 year 17 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the 18 Secretary shall promulgate regulations to update the 19 annual State Program Evaluations to— 20 ‘‘(A) ensure that a State authority has the 21 capability to sufficiently review and evaluate the 22 adequacy of the plans and manuals described in 23 section 60109(e)(7)(C)(i); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2139 IH ‘‘(B) require that a State authority has a 1 sufficient number of inspectors to ensure safe 2 operations, as determined by a formula that 3 takes into account factors including but not 4 limited to— 5 ‘‘(i) the number of miles of cast iron 6 pipe in the State; 7 ‘‘(ii) the number of customers in the 8 State; 9 ‘‘(iii) population density in areas with 10 gas distribution pipeline; 11 ‘‘(iv) the age of the gas distribution 12 system in the State; and 13 ‘‘(v) environmental factors, including 14 relevant geological issues.’’. 15 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS. 16 Section 60102 of title 49, United States Code, is 17 amended by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(q) EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS.—Not later 19 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this sub- 20 section, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to en- 21 sure that each emergency response plan under section 22 192.615 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc- 23 cessor regulations), developed by an operator of a distribu- 24 tion pipeline includes written procedures for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2139 IH ‘‘(1) establishing communication with fire, po- 1 lice, and other relevant public officials as soon as 2 practicable, but not later than 30 minutes, after a 3 gas pipeline emergency that— 4 ‘‘(A) includes fires, explosions, or one or 5 more fatalities; or 6 ‘‘(B) results in the shutdown of gas service 7 to more than 100 customers; 8 ‘‘(2) establishing public communication as soon 9 as practicable and in consultation with fire, police, 10 and other public officials after a gas pipeline emer- 11 gency that— 12 ‘‘(A) includes fires, explosions, or one or 13 more fatalities; or 14 ‘‘(B) results in the shutdown of gas service 15 to more than 100 customers; and 16 ‘‘(3) the development and implementation of a 17 voluntary, opt-in system that would allow operators 18 of distribution pipelines to rapidly communicate with 19 customers in the event of an emergency.’’. 20 SEC. 4. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE MANUALS. 21 Section 60102 of title 49, United States Code (as 22 amended by section 3), is amended by adding at the end 23 the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2139 IH ‘‘(r) OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE MANUALS.— 1 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 2 subsection, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 3 ensure that each procedural manual for operations, main- 4 tenance, and emergencies under section 192.605 of title 5 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula- 6 tions), developed by an operator of a distribution pipeline 7 includes written procedures for— 8 ‘‘(1) responding to overpressurization alarms, 9 including a clear timeline and order of operations for 10 shutting down portions of the gas distribution sys- 11 tem, if necessary; and 12 ‘‘(2) a detailed procedure for a management of 13 change process, which shall be applied to all changes 14 to the distribution system, and which shall ensure 15 that relevant employees of an operator of a distribu- 16 tion pipeline, as determined through the regulations, 17 review construction documents for accuracy, com- 18 pleteness, and correctness.’’. 19 SEC. 5. PIPELINE SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. 20 Section 60102 of title 49, United States Code (as 21 amended by section 4), is amended by adding at the end 22 the following: 23 ‘‘(s) PIPELINE SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2139 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 1 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec- 2 retary shall promulgate regulations directing each 3 operator of a distribution pipeline to develop and im- 4 plement a pipeline safety management systems 5 framework in accordance with Recommended Prac- 6 tice 1173 of the American Petroleum Institute (API 7 RP 1173). 8 ‘‘(2) UPDATES.—The Secretary may periodi- 9 cally revise such regulations to adopt new best in- 10 dustry practices for promoting safety management 11 systems, as appropriate. 12 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION.—Each operator of a dis- 13 tribution pipeline shall submit to the Secretary or 14 the relevant State authority, as certified under sec- 15 tion 60105 of title 49, United States Code— 16 ‘‘(A) a copy of the pipeline safety manage- 17 ment systems framework developed under para- 18 graph (1) by not later than 2 years after the 19 date of enactment of this subsection; and 20 ‘‘(B) any updates to the framework de- 21 scribed in subparagraph (A) by not later than 22 3 years after the date of enactment of this sub- 23 section after the update. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2139 IH ‘‘(4) EVALUATION AND CERTIFICATION.— 1 Under a timeline established by the Secretary 2 through regulation, the Secretary or the relevant 3 State authority, as certified under section 60105 of 4 title 49, United States Code, shall— 5 ‘‘(A) evaluate pipeline safety management 6 systems frameworks developed under paragraph 7 (1), including by using independent third-party 8 evaluators if necessary; and 9 ‘‘(B) certify that— 10 ‘‘(i) those frameworks are effective 11 and complete; and 12 ‘‘(ii) operators of distribution pipe- 13 lines are in compliance with those frame- 14 works.’’. 15 SEC. 6. PIPELINE SAFETY PRACTICES. 16 Section 60102 of title 49, United States Code (as 17 amended by section 5), is amended by adding at the end 18 the following: 19 ‘‘(t) OTHER PIPELINE SAFETY PRACTICES.— 20 ‘‘(1) RECORDS.—Not later than 180 days after 21 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec- 22 retary shall promulgate regulations to require an op- 23 erator of a distribution pipeline— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2139 IH ‘‘(A) to develop and maintain traceable, re- 1 liable, complete, and up-to-date records of the 2 gas distribution system in each region of oper- 3 ation that depict high-, medium-, and low-gas 4 pressure systems, including maps and other 5 drawings; and 6 ‘‘(B) to ensure that the records described 7 in subparagraph (A) are accessible to all em- 8 ployees of the operator and provided to the Sec- 9 retary or the relevant State authority. 10 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 12 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 13 the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 14 require that, before carrying out any covered 15 task (as defined in section 192.801(b) of title 16 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 17 regulations)), the covered task is approved by a 18 professional engineer licensed to practice in the 19 State in which it is to be carried out. 20 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—In promulgating regula- 21 tions under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 22 shall ensure that professional engineers are pro- 23 vided access to all relevant records and prior 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2139 IH work plans needed to certify the safety of the 1 covered task. 2 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION.—The following provi- 3 sions shall not apply to a standard promulgated 4 under subparagraph (A): 5 ‘‘(i) Subsections (c) and (d) of section 6 60118. 7 ‘‘(ii) Section 60131(e)(5). 8 ‘‘(3) PRESENCE OF QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 10 days after the date of enactment of this sub- 11 section, the Secretary shall promulgate regula- 12 tions to require that not less than 1 employee 13 of an operator of a distribution pipeline who is 14 qualified to perform relevant covered tasks (as 15 defined in section 192.801(b) of title 49, Code 16 of Federal Regulations (or successor regula- 17 tions)), shall monitor gas pressure and have the 18 capability to shut down the flow of gas at a dis- 19 trict regulator station during any construction 20 project that has the potential to cause a haz- 21 ardous over-pressurization at that station, in- 22 cluding tie-ins and abandonment of distribution 23 lines and mains, based on an evaluation of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2139 IH threats that could result in unsafe operation 1 conducted by the operator. 2 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—In promulgating regu- 3 lations under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 4 shall ensure that those regulations do not apply 5 to a district regulating station that has a moni- 6 toring system and the capability for remote or 7 automatic shutoff. 8 ‘‘(4) DISTRICT REGULATOR STATIONS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 10 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 11 the Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 12 require that each operator of a distribution 13 pipeline assesses and upgrades, as appropriate, 14 each district regulator station of the operator to 15 ensure that— 16 ‘‘(i) there is no possibility for a com- 17 mon mode of failure in the regulator tech- 18 nology of the station that could lead to an 19 operating pressure that is greater than the 20 maximum allowable operating pressure (as 21 described in section 192.619 of title 49, 22 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 23 regulations)); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2139.IH H2139 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2139 IH ‘‘(ii) the station has monitoring tech- 1 nology that provides constant awareness of 2 gas press [Text truncated for display. 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