SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019

IB Union Calendar No. 545 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5120 [Report No. 116–661, Part I] To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide enhanced safety and environmental protection in pipeline transportation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 15, 2019 Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- ture, 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 jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned DECEMBER 17, 2020 Additional sponsor: Ms. NORTON DECEMBER 17, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] DECEMBER 17, 2020 Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 15, 2019] VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5120 RH A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide enhanced safety and environmental protection in pipeline transpor- tation, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5120 RH 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) SH-ORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Environmentally Responsible 5 Pipelines Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFER Pipelines Act of 6 2019’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 8 this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 3. Purpose and general authority. Sec. 4. State pipeline safety program certifications. Sec. 5. State pipeline safety grants. Sec. 6. Inspection and maintenance. Sec. 7. Risk analysis and integrity management programs. Sec. 8. Community right-to-know and emergency preparedness. Sec. 9. Cost recovery for design reviews. Sec. 10. Actions by private persons. Sec. 11. Civil penalties. Sec. 12. Criminal penalties. Sec. 13. Emergency response grants. Sec. 14. Verification of pipeline qualification programs. Sec. 15. National pipeline mapping system. Sec. 16. Congressional access to oil spill response plans. Sec. 17. Leak detection technology. Sec. 18. Gas pipeline repair criteria. Sec. 19. Methane release mitigation. Sec. 20. Unusually sensitive areas. Sec. 21. User fees for underground natural gas storage facilities. Sec. 22. Seismicity. Sec. 23. Advancement of new pipeline safety technologies and approaches. Sec. 24. Workforce. Sec. 25. Hiring report. Sec. 26. Plan to combine State damage prevention and one-call notification pro- grams. Sec. 27. Gas gathering lines. Sec. 28. Regulatory updates. Sec. 29. Component verification. Sec. 30. Codification of final rule. Sec. 31. Threatening safe operations of pipeline infrastructure. Sec. 32. Penalty for causing a defect in pipeline infrastructure under construc- tion. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6213 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5120 RH Sec. 33. Use of a firearm to damage pipeline infrastructure under construction. Sec. 34. Pipeline safety voluntary information-sharing system. 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 Haz- 4 ardous 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 60125(a) 11 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 carrying 16 out such section 12 and $60,000,000 shall be ex- 17 pended for making grants; 18 ‘‘(B) $165,624,000 for fiscal year 2021 of 19 which $10,000,000 shall be expended for carrying 20 out such section 12 and $61,800,000 shall be ex- 21 pended for making grants; 22 ‘‘(C) $170,600,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 23 which $10,000,000 shall be expended for carrying 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5120 RH out such section 12 and $63,650,000 shall be ex- 1 pended for making grants; and 2 ‘‘(D) $175,700,000 for fiscal year 2023, of 3 which $10,000,000 shall be expended for carrying 4 out such section 12 and $65,560,000 shall be ex- 5 pended for making grants.’’; 6 (2) in paragraph (2) by striking subparagraphs 7 (A) through (D) and inserting the following: 8 ‘‘(A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, of 9 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for carrying 10 out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall be ex- 11 pended for making grants; 12 ‘‘(B) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, of 13 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for carrying 14 out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall be ex- 15 pended for making grants; 16 ‘‘(C) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, of 17 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for carrying 18 out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall be ex- 19 pended for making grants; and 20 ‘‘(D) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, of 21 which $5,000,000 shall be expended for carrying 22 out such section 12 and $9,000,000 shall be ex- 23 pended for making grants.’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5120 RH (3) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘$8,000,000 for 1 each of fiscal years 2017 through 2019’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘$9,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 3 2023’’. 4 (c) EMERGENCY RESPONSE GRANTS.—Section 5 60125(b)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 6 striking ‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 7 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘$12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 8 2020 through 2023’’. 9 (d) PIPELINE SAFETY INFORMATION GRANTS TO COM- 10 MUNITIES.—Section 60130(c) of title 49, United States 11 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 2(b) of the PIPES 12 Act of 2016, the Secretary shall expend $1,500,000 for each 13 of fiscal years 2016 through 2019 to carry out this section. 14 Such amounts shall not be derived from user fees collected 15 under section 60301’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2(a) of the 16 SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019, the Secretary shall expend 17 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023 to 18 carry out this section’’. 19 (e) STATE DAMAGE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—Section 20 60134(i) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 21 striking ‘‘$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 22 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 23 2020 through 2023’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5120 RH (f) ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION PROGRAMS.—Section 1 6107 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking 2 ‘‘$1,058,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2019’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘$2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 4 2023’’. 5 SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND GENERAL AUTHORITY. 6 (a) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—Section 60102(b) of 7 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (2)— 9 (A) by striking subparagraphs (C) through 10 (E); and 11 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 12 and (G) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec- 13 tively; and 14 (2) by striking paragraphs (3) through (7). 15 (b) SAFETY-RELATED CONDITION REPORTING.— 16 (1) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO FIRST RE- 17 SPONDERS.—Section 60102(h) of title 49, United 18 States Code, is amended— 19 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘Notice of 20 the condition shall be given concurrently to ap- 21 propriate State authorities.’’; and 22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5120 RH ‘‘(3)(A) Notice of the condition of an intrastate or 1 interstate pipeline facility shall be given concurrently to 2 appropriate State authorities. 3 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall require that, upon receipt of 4 a report on a safety-related condition submitted under this 5 section, a State agency shall provide the report, upon re- 6 quest, to any relevant State emergency response commis- 7 sion, tribal emergency response commission, tribal emer- 8 gency planning committee, local emergency planning com- 9 mittee, local government, or public agency responsible for 10 emergency response, including any updates to the report re- 11 ceived by the State agency.’’. 12 (2) EXEMPTION REMOVAL.—Section 60102(h) of 13 title 49, United States Code, is further amended by 14 adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(4) Regulations prescribed by the Secretary under 16 this section may not exempt a condition from being subject 17 to reporting requirements if the exemption of such condition 18 would reduce or eliminate the value of the reports as leading 19 indicators of safety or environmental hazards.’’. 20 (c) AUTOMATIC OR REMOTE-CONTROLLED SHUT-OFF 21 VALVES.—Section 60102(n)(1) of title 49, United States 22 Code, is amended to read as follows: 23 ‘‘(1) HIGH CONSEQUENCE AREAS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5120 RH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 1 after the date of enactment of the SAFER Pipe- 2 lines Act of 2019, the Secretary shall issue regu- 3 lations to require operators of transmission pipe- 4 line facilities to install and use automatic or re- 5 mote-controlled shut-off valves for such pipeline 6 facilities that are located in high consequence 7 areas (as defined in part 192 or 195 of title 49, 8 Code of Federal Regulations, as applicable). 9 ‘‘(B) OTHER AREAS.—The Secretary may 10 issue regulations to require operators of trans- 11 mission pipeline facilities to install and use 12 automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves for 13 such pipeline facilities that are not located in 14 areas described in subparagraph (A).’’. 15 (d) CRACK MANAGEMENT.—Section 60102 of title 49, 16 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(q) CRACK MANAGEMENT.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 20 ‘‘(A) HIGH CONSEQUENCE AREAS.—Not 21 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 22 this subsection, the Secretary shall issue regula- 23 tions to require operators of gas pipeline facili- 24 ties and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5120 RH are located in high consequence areas (as defined 1 in part 192 or 195 of title 49, Code of Federal 2 Regulations, as applicable) to address and repair 3 cracks in such facilities. 4 ‘‘(B) OTHER AREAS.—The Secretary may 5 issue regulations to require operators of gas pipe- 6 line facilities and hazardous liquid pipeline fa- 7 cilities that are not located in areas described in 8 subparagraph (A) to address and repair cracks 9 in such facilities. 10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Regulations issued under 11 paragraph (1) shall specify— 12 ‘‘(A) under what conditions an engineering 13 assessment of cracks, including environmentally 14 assisted cracks, must be performed; 15 ‘‘(B) acceptable methods for performing an 16 engineering assessment on a pipeline, including 17 the assessment of cracks coinciding with corro- 18 sion; 19 ‘‘(C) criteria for determining whether the 20 excavation of a pipeline segment is required due 21 to a probable crack, and deadlines for completing 22 any excavation so required; 23 ‘‘(D) pressure restriction limits for pipelines 24 for which a determination is made to excavate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5120 RH such pipeline pursuant to the requirements of 1 subparagraph (C); and 2 ‘‘(E) acceptable methods for determining 3 crack growth for any cracks not required to be 4 repaired under the regulations, including growth 5 caused by fatigue, corrosion fatigue, or stress cor- 6 rosion cracking, as applicable.’’. 7 SEC. 4. STATE PIPELINE SAFETY PROGRAM CERTIFI- 8 CATIONS. 9 Section 60105(e) of title 49, United States Code, is 10 amended— 11 (1) by inserting ‘‘In carrying out this subsection, 12 the Secretary may request that a State authority pro- 13 vide records of any inspection of a pipeline facility 14 made by the State authority or any investigation de- 15 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(B).’’ after ‘‘with the cer- 16 tification.’’; and 17 (2) by inserting after ‘‘under this subsection’’ the 18 following: ‘‘, including, upon request by the Secretary, 19 by authorizing the Secretary to participate in such 20 an inspection or investigation’’. 21 SEC. 5. STATE PIPELINE SAFETY GRANTS. 22 Section 60107 of title 49, United States Code, is 23 amended by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Dec 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5120.RH H5120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5120 RH ‘‘(f) GRANTS FOR RENDERING AID.—The Secretary 1 may make an additional payment, to a State receiving a 2 payment under subsection (a), to pay the costs incurred by 3 the State in rendering aid to another State to respond to 4 a natural disaster or major pipeline incident.’’. 5 SEC. 6. INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE. 6 Section 60108 of title 49, United States Code, is 7 amended by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(f) PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DATA COL- 9 LECTION.—The Secretary may require the owner or oper- 10 ator of a pipeline facility to provide to the Secretary infor- 11 mation the Secretary determines appropriate [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]