Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5175 To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide enhanced safety in pipeline transportation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. CRAWFORD (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. BOST, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mrs. MILLER, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. PENCE, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. BABIN, Mr. PERRY, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. SPANO, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. KATKO, and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico) 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 provide enhanced safety in pipeline transportation, 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 ‘‘Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5175 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 3. Strengthening operator qualification programs. Sec. 4. Safety-related condition reports. Sec. 5. Property damage threshold. Sec. 6. Pipeline facility security. Sec. 7. Access to oil spill response plans. Sec. 8. National pipeline mapping system. Sec. 9. Depth of cover for inland bodies of water. Sec. 10. Pipeline operating status. Sec. 11. Advancement of new pipeline safety technologies and approaches. Sec. 12. Pipeline safety voluntary information-sharing system. Sec. 13. User fees. Sec. 14. User fees for underground natural gas storage facilities. Sec. 15. Liquefied natural gas facility safety. Sec. 16. Unusually sensitive areas. Sec. 17. Workforce. Sec. 18. Nationwide integrated pipeline safety regulatory database. Sec. 19. Regulatory updates. Sec. 20. Construction project approvals. Sec. 21. Report on emissions. Sec. 22. Changes in class location. SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 3 (a) GAS AND HAZARDOUS LIQUID.—Section 4 60125(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to 5 read as follows: 6 ‘‘(a) GAS AND HAZARDOUS LIQUID.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the provisions 8 of this chapter related to gas and hazardous liquid 9 and section 12 of the Pipeline Safety Improvement 10 Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C. 60101 note; Public Law 11 107–355), there are authorized to be appropriated to 12 the Secretary from fees collected under section 13 60301— 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5175 IH ‘‘(A) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, of 1 which $9,000,000 shall be expended for car- 2 rying out such section 12 and $60,000,000 3 shall be expended for making grants; 4 ‘‘(B) $154,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, of 5 which $9,000,000 shall be expended for car- 6 rying out such section 12 and $63,000,000 7 shall be expended for making grants; 8 ‘‘(C) $158,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 9 which $9,000,000 shall be expended for car- 10 rying out such section 12 and $66,000,000 11 shall be expended for making grants; and 12 ‘‘(D) $162,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, of 13 which $9,000,000 shall be expended for car- 14 rying out such section 12 and $69,000,000 15 shall be expended for making grants. 16 ‘‘(2) TRUST FUND AMOUNTS.—In addition to 17 the amounts authorized to be appropriated under 18 paragraph (1), there are authorized to be appro- 19 priated from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund de- 20 scribed in section 9509(a) of the Internal Revenue 21 Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9509(a)) to carry out the 22 provisions of this chapter relating to hazardous liq- 23 uid and section 12 of the Pipeline Safety Improve- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5175 IH ment Act of 2002 (49 U.S.C. 60101 note; Public 1 Law 107–355)— 2 ‘‘(A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, of 3 which— 4 ‘‘(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry 5 out section 12 of such Act; and 6 ‘‘(ii) $10,000,000 shall be used for 7 making grants; 8 ‘‘(B) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, of 9 which— 10 ‘‘(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry 11 out section 12 of such Act; and 12 ‘‘(ii) $11,000,000 shall be used for 13 making grants; 14 ‘‘(C) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 15 which— 16 ‘‘(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry 17 out section 12 of such Act; and 18 ‘‘(ii) $12,000,000 shall be used for 19 making grants; and 20 ‘‘(D) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, of 21 which— 22 ‘‘(i) $3,000,000 shall be used to carry 23 out section 12 of such Act; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5175 IH ‘‘(ii) $13,000,000 shall be used for 1 making grants. 2 ‘‘(3) UNDERGROUND NATURAL GAS STORAGE 3 FACILITY SAFETY ACCOUNT.—To carry out section 4 60141, there is authorized to be appropriated to the 5 Secretary $8,000,000 from fees collected under sec- 6 tion 60302 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 7 2023.’’. 8 (b) OPERATIONAL EXPENSES.—Section 2(b) of the 9 PIPES Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–183; 130 Stat. 515) 10 is amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (4) and 11 inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2020. 13 ‘‘(2) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 14 ‘‘(3) $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 15 ‘‘(4) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.’’. 16 (c) EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANTS.—Section 17 60125(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to 18 read as follows: 19 ‘‘(b) EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANTS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may estab- 21 lish a program to make grants to State, county, 22 local, and tribal governments and nonprofit organi- 23 zations providing pipeline emergency response train- 24 ing, for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5175 IH ‘‘(A) emergency response management; 1 ‘‘(B) training; and 2 ‘‘(C) technical assistance. 3 ‘‘(2) TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.—To the extent 4 that a grant is used to train emergency responders, 5 any training shall ensure that emergency responders 6 can protect nearby persons, property, and the envi- 7 ronment from the effects of accidents or incidents 8 involving gas or hazardous liquid pipelines, in ac- 9 cordance with existing regulations. 10 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 11 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 12 this subsection $12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 13 2020 through 2023.’’. 14 (d) ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION PROGRAMS.—Section 15 6107 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by strik- 16 ing ‘‘2016 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 through 17 2023’’. 18 (e) PIPELINE SAFETY INFORMATION GRANTS TO 19 COMMUNITIES.—Section 60130(c) of title 49, United 20 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 21 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made 23 available under section 2(b) of the PIPES Act of 24 2016, the Secretary shall use $1,500,000 for each of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5175 IH fiscal years 2020 through 2023 to carry out this sec- 1 tion. 2 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Any amounts used to carry 3 out this section may not be derived from user fees 4 collected under section 60301.’’. 5 (f) DAMAGE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—Section 6 60134(i) of title 49, United States Code, is amended in 7 the first sentence by striking ‘‘2012 through 2015’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘2020 through 2023’’. 9 (g) PIPELINE INTEGRITY PROGRAM.—Section 12(f) 10 of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 (49 11 U.S.C. 60101 note; Public Law 107–355) is amended by 12 striking ‘‘2016 through 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2020 13 through 2023’’. 14 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING OPERATOR QUALIFICATION PRO- 15 GRAMS. 16 (a) QUALIFICATIONS OF PIPELINE OPERATORS.— 17 Section 60102(a)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is 18 amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘operates and maintains’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘operates and maintains, or constructs,’’; 21 (2) by inserting ‘‘, a gas gathering line, or a 22 hazardous liquid gathering line’’ before ‘‘shall ad- 23 dress’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5175 IH (3) by striking ‘‘operator of a pipeline facility’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘operator of a pipeline facility, a gas 2 gathering line, or a hazardous liquid gathering line’’; 3 (4) by striking ‘‘operate and maintain’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘operate and maintain, or construct’’ each 5 place it appears; and 6 (5) by inserting ‘‘, gas gathering lines, or haz- 7 ardous liquid gathering lines’’ before the period at 8 the end. 9 (b) VERIFICATION OF PIPELINE QUALIFICATION 10 PROGRAMS.—Section 60131 of title 49, United States 11 Code, is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (d) by adding at the end the 13 following: 14 ‘‘(5) A management of change program that 15 will communicate changes that affect covered tasks 16 to individuals performing those covered tasks.’’; and 17 (2) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 ‘‘(1) COVERED TASK.—The term ‘covered 21 task’— 22 ‘‘(A) with respect to a gas pipeline facility, 23 has the meaning such term has under section 24 192.801 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5175 IH tions, including any subsequent modifications; 1 and 2 ‘‘(B) with respect to a hazardous liquid 3 pipeline facility, has the meaning such term has 4 under section 195.501 of such title, including 5 any subsequent modifications; 6 ‘‘(C) includes, with respect to a gas pipe- 7 line facility or a hazardous liquid pipeline facil- 8 ity described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), a 9 construction task. 10 ‘‘(2) PIPELINE FACILITY.—The term ‘pipeline 11 facility’ includes regulated gas gathering lines and 12 regulated hazardous liquid gathering lines.’’. 13 (c) OPERATOR QUALIFICATION PROGRAM EFFEC- 14 TIVENESS.— 15 (1) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 16 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 17 Secretary of Transportation shall issue such regula- 18 tions as are necessary to require pipeline facility op- 19 erator qualification programs to include a written 20 process to measure the effectiveness of the program 21 at minimizing human error during the performance 22 of a covered task. 23 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing the regula- 24 tions required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 5175 IH shall consider the elements of program effectiveness 1 contained in the notice of proposed rulemaking 2 issued on July 10, 2015 titled ‘‘Pipeline Safety: Op- 3 erator Qualification, Cost Recovery, Accident and 4 Incident Notification, and Other Pipeline Safety 3 5 Proposed Changes’’ (80 Fed. Reg. 39916). 6 (3) COVERED TASK DEFINED.—In this sub- 7 section, the term ‘‘covered task’’ has the meaning 8 given the term in section 60131(g) of title 49, 9 United States Code. 10 SEC. 4. SAFETY-RELATED CONDITION REPORTS. 11 Section 60102(h) of title 49, United States Code, is 12 amended— 13 (1) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘Notice of the 14 condition shall be given concurrently to appropriate 15 State authorities.’’; and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(3)(A) Notice of the condition of an intrastate 18 or interstate pipeline facility shall be given concur- 19 rently to appropriate State authorities, as defined by 20 the Secretary. 21 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall require that when a 22 State agency receives a report on a safety-related 23 condition, the State agency shall provide the report 24 to any State emergency response commission, tribal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 5175 IH emergency response commission, tribal emergency 1 planning committee, local emergency planning com- 2 mittee, local government, or public agency respon- 3 sible for emergency response that requests the re- 4 port, including any updates to the report received by 5 the State agency.’’. 6 SEC. 5. PROPERTY DAMAGE THRESHOLD. 7 Section 60123(d)(2)(A) of title 49, United States 8 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘$200,000’’. 10 SEC. 6. PIPELINE FACILITY SECURITY. 11 Section 60123 of title 49, United States Code, is 12 amended by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(e) PENALTY FOR ALTERING PHYSICAL INFRA- 14 STRUCTURE.— 15 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ALTERING A PIPELINE FA- 16 CILITY.—In this subsection, the term ‘altering a 17 pipeline facility’ means— 18 ‘‘(A) the unauthorized turning or manipu- 19 lation of any valve of a pipeline facility de- 20 scribed in subsection (b); 21 ‘‘(B) the puncturing of— 22 ‘‘(i) an existing pipeline that is in use 23 for a facility described in subsection (b); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Nov 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 5175 IH ‘‘(ii) a pipeline pipe, pump, or valve 1 intended to be used by a facility described 2 in subsection (b); or 3 ‘‘(C) causing a defect that would affect the 4 integrity of safe operations for— 5 ‘‘(i) an existing pipeline that is in use 6 for a facility described in subsection (b); or 7 ‘‘(ii) a pipeline pipe, pump, or valve 8 intended to be used by a facility described 9 in subsection (b). 10 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—A person knowingly and will- 11 fully altering a pipeline facility shall be fined or im- 12 prisoned in accordance with subsection (a). 13 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 14 this subsection abridges the exercise of rights guar- 15 anteed under the First Amendment to the Constitu- 16 tion of t [Text truncated for display. 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