Safer Pipelines Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3432 To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the safety of the Nation’s natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 24, 2019 Mr. RUSH 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 with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the safety of the Nation’s natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline systems, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Safer Pipelines Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Authorization of appropriations. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3432 IH Sec. 3. Purpose and general authority. Sec. 4. Risk analysis and integrity management programs. Sec. 5. Community right-to-know and emergency preparedness. Sec. 6. Actions by private persons. Sec. 7. Civil penalties. Sec. 8. Criminal penalties. Sec. 9. Direct hire authority for Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Ad- ministration. Sec. 10. Report. SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 (a) OPERATIONAL EXPENSES.—There are authorized 2 to be appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation for 3 the necessary operational expenses of the Pipeline and 4 Hazardous Materials Safety Administration the following 5 amounts: 6 (1) $24,215,000 for fiscal year 2020. 7 (2) $24,941,450 for fiscal year 2021. 8 (3) $26,460,000 for fiscal year 2022. 9 (4) $27,254,000 for fiscal year 2023. 10 (b) GAS AND HAZARDOUS LIQUID.—Section 11 60125(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 12 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs 13 (A) through (D) and inserting the following: 14 ‘‘(A) $160,800,000 for fiscal year 2020, of 15 which $10,000,000 shall be expended for car- 16 rying out such section 12 and $50,000,000 17 shall be expended for making grants; 18 ‘‘(B) $165,624,000 for fiscal year 2021 of 19 which $10,000,000 shall be expended for car- 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3432 IH rying out such section 12 and $50,000,000 1 shall be expended for making grants; 2 ‘‘(C) $170,600,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 3 which $10,000,000 shall be expended for car- 4 rying out such section 12 and $50,000,000 5 shall be expended for making grants; and 6 ‘‘(D) $175,700,000 for fiscal year 2023, of 7 which $10,000,000 shall be expended for car- 8 rying out such section 12 and $50,885,000 9 shall be expended for making grants.’’; 10 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraphs 11 (A) through (D) and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, of 13 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for car- 14 rying out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall 15 be expended for making grants; 16 ‘‘(B) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, of 17 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for car- 18 rying out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall 19 be expended for making grants; 20 ‘‘(C) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 21 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for car- 22 rying out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall 23 be expended for making grants; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3432 IH ‘‘(D) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, of 1 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for car- 2 rying out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall 3 be expended for making grants.’’; and 4 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$8,000,000 5 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2019’’ and in- 6 serting ‘‘$9,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 7 through 2023’’. 8 (c) EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANTS.—Section 9 60125(b)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 10 by striking ‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 11 through 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘$12,000,000 for each of fis- 12 cal years 2020 through 2023’’. 13 (d) PIPELINE SAFETY INFORMATION GRANTS TO 14 COMMUNITIES.—Section 60130(c) of title 49, United 15 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 2(b) of the 16 PIPES Act of 2016, the Secretary shall expend 17 $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2019 18 to carry out this section. Such amounts shall not be de- 19 rived from user fees collected under section 60301’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘section 2(a) of the Safer Pipelines Act of 2019, 21 the Secretary shall expend $2,000,000 for each of fiscal 22 years 2020 through 2023 to carry out this section’’. 23 (e) STATE DAMAGE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—Sec- 24 tion 60134(i) of title 49, United States Code is amended 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3432 IH by striking ‘‘$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 1 through 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,000,000 for each of fis- 2 cal years 2020 through 2023’’. 3 (f) ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION PROGRAMS.—Section 4 6107 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by strik- 5 ing ‘‘$1,058,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 6 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 7 2020 through 2023’’. 8 SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND GENERAL AUTHORITY. 9 (a) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—Section 60102(b) of 10 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (2)— 12 (A) by striking subparagraphs (C) through 13 (E); and 14 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 15 and (G) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec- 16 tively; and 17 (2) by striking paragraphs (3) through (7). 18 (b) SAFETY CONDITION REPORTS.—Section 19 60102(h)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 20 by striking ‘‘State authorities’’ and inserting ‘‘State offi- 21 cials, including local emergency responders and appro- 22 priate on-scene coordinators for any applicable contin- 23 gency plans’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3432 IH SEC. 4. RISK ANALYSIS AND INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT 1 PROGRAMS. 2 (a) DIRECT ASSESSMENTS.—Section 60109(c) of 3 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 4 end the following: 5 ‘‘(12) USE OF DIRECT ASSESSMENTS.— 6 ‘‘(A) TRANSMISSION PIPELINE FACILITIES 7 REGULATION.—Not later than 2 years after the 8 date of enactment of this paragraph, the Sec- 9 retary shall issue regulations for methods of as- 10 sessment of transmission pipeline facilities 11 under paragraph (3) that prioritize methods 12 that would provide a greater level of safety than 13 direct assessment, including the use of internal 14 inspection devices or pressure testing. 15 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION PIPELINES STUDY.— 16 Not later than 2 years after the date of enact- 17 ment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall sub- 18 mit to the Committees on Energy and Com- 19 merce and Transportation and Infrastructure of 20 the House of Representatives and the Com- 21 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor- 22 tation of the Senate a report containing— 23 ‘‘(i) the results of a study of methods 24 of assessment of distribution pipelines that 25 may be used under paragraph (3), other 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3432 IH than direct assessment, to determine 1 whether any such methods— 2 ‘‘(I) would provide an equal or 3 greater level of safety than direct as- 4 sessment of such pipelines; and 5 ‘‘(II) are feasible; and 6 ‘‘(ii) any recommendations based on 7 such study.’’. 8 (b) AUTOMATIC OR REMOTE SHUTOFF VALVES.— 9 Section 60109 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 10 by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(h) AUTOMATIC OR REMOTE SHUTOFF VALVES FOR 12 TRANSMISSION PIPELINE FACILITIES.— 13 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 15 paragraph (2), beginning on the date that is 2 16 years after the date of enactment of this sub- 17 section, each operator of a transmission pipeline 18 facility that is located in a high consequence 19 area (as defined in subsection (g)) shall, based 20 on a risk assessment, install for the trans- 21 mission pipeline facility automatic or remote 22 shutoff valves, as appropriate. 23 ‘‘(B) INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT.— 24 The Secretary shall conduct inspections under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3432 IH section 60117(c) to determine whether each op- 1 erator of a transmission pipeline facility to 2 which this paragraph applies is complying with 3 this section. 4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary requires by 5 regulation, under section 60102(n), the use of auto- 6 matic or remote-controlled shut-off valves, or equiva- 7 lent technology, on a transmission pipeline facility, 8 paragraph (1) shall not apply to the transmission 9 pipeline facility.’’. 10 SEC. 5. COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW AND EMERGENCY 11 PREPAREDNESS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 60116 of title 49, United 13 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 14 ‘‘§ 60116. Community right-to-know and emergency 15 preparedness 16 ‘‘(a) PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each owner or operator of 18 a gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility shall carry 19 out a continuing program to educate the public on— 20 ‘‘(A) the use of a one-call notification sys- 21 tem prior to excavation and other damage pre- 22 vention activities; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3432 IH ‘‘(B) the possible hazards associated with 1 unintended releases from the pipeline facility; 2 and 3 ‘‘(C) the physical indications that a release 4 from a pipeline facility may have occurred, the 5 steps that should be taken for public safety in 6 the event of such a release, and how to report 7 such a release. 8 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION OF EXISTING 9 PROGRAMS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 10 enactment of the Safer Pipelines Act of 2019, each 11 owner or operator of a gas or hazardous liquid pipe- 12 line facility shall— 13 ‘‘(A) review its existing public education 14 program for effectiveness, and modify the pro- 15 gram as necessary; and 16 ‘‘(B) submit to the Secretary for review a 17 detailed description of its public education pro- 18 gram, including any modifications made to the 19 program under subparagraph (A). 20 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS; MATERIAL.—The Secretary 21 may— 22 ‘‘(A) issue standards for public education 23 programs under this section, including stand- 24 ards providing for periodic review of such pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3432 IH grams and modification of such programs as 1 needed; and 2 ‘‘(B) develop material for use in the pro- 3 grams. 4 ‘‘(b) LIAISON WITH STATE AND LOCAL EMERGENCY 5 RESPONSE ENTITIES.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 7 the date of enactment of the Safer Pipelines Act of 8 2019, an operator of a gas or hazardous liquid pipe- 9 line facility shall establish liaison with— 10 ‘‘(A) the State emergency response com- 11 mission established under section 301 of the 12 Emergency Planning and Community Right-To- 13 Know Act of 1986 in each State in which the 14 pipeline facility operates; and 15 ‘‘(B) the local emergency planning com- 16 mittee established under such section in each 17 emergency planning district in which the pipe- 18 line facility operates. 19 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—Upon 20 request, an operator of a gas or hazardous liquid 21 pipeline facility shall make available to the applica- 22 ble State emergency response commissions and local 23 emergency planning committees— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3432 IH ‘‘(A) the information required to be main- 1 tained under section 60102(d); 2 ‘‘(B) a copy of any integrity management 3 program adopted by the operator under section 4 60109; and 5 ‘‘(C) information describing the implemen- 6 tation of the integrity management program 7 and the risks that the program is designed to 8 address. 9 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITIES WITHOUT LOCAL EMER- 10 GENCY PLANNING COMMITTEES.—In a community 11 for which a local emergency planning committee has 12 not been established, the operator of a gas or haz- 13 ardous liquid pipeline facility shall liaise with the 14 local fire, police, and other emergency response enti- 15 ties. 16 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—The Sec- 17 retary shall make available to the public— 18 ‘‘(1) any safety-related condition report sub- 19 mitted by an operator under section 60102(h); and 20 ‘‘(2) a report of a pipeline incident filed by an 21 operator pursuant to this chapter. 22 ‘‘(d) ACCESS TO INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 23 INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall prescribe require- 24 ments for public access to information regarding integrity 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3432.IH H3432 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3432 IH management programs provided to a State authority pur- 1 suant to section 60109(c)(9)(C). 2 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF MAPS.—The owner or oper- 3 ator of each interstate gas pipeline facility and interstate 4 hazardous liquid pipeline facility shall— 5 ‘‘(1) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 6 actment of this subsection, provide to each munici- 7 pality in which the pipeline facility is located a map 8 identifying the location of such facility; and 9 ‘‘(2) provide to each such municipality an up- 10 dated map not later than 6 months after any change 11 to a location of such facility. 12 ‘‘(f) PIPELINE SEGMENT REPORTS.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 14 after the date of enactment of the Safer Pipelines 15 Act of 2019, and not l [Text truncated for display. 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