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H.R. 2845 (112th): Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011
- Introduced:
- Sep 07, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Bill Shuster [R-PA9]
- Status:
- Signed by the President
- Slip Law:
- This bill became Pub.L. 112-90.
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
- Full Title
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for enhanced safety and environmental protection in pipeline transportation, to provide for enhanced reliability in the transportation of the Nation's energy products by pipeline, and for other purposes.
- Summary
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No summaries available.
- Text
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Last updated Jan 01, 2012.
21 pages
- Primary Source
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View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)
GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here.
- Citation
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Click a format for a citation suggestion:
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
1/3/2012.
Section
2
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Increases civil penalties on an oil, natural gas, or hazardous liquid pipeline facility operator for failure to:
(1) mark accurately the location of pipeline facilities in the vicinity of a demolition, excavation, tunneling, or construction;
(2) use first a one-call notification system to establish the location of underground facilities in such an area; or
(3) comply with safety standards and related requirements, including for inspections, maintenance, risk analysis, and adoption of an integrity management program.
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to impose a civil penalty for obstruction or prevention of inspections or investigations.
Eliminates:
(1) the cap on civil penalties for administrative enforcement actions regarding pipeline safety, and
(2) judicial review of any denial of an application for waiver of certain safety requirements.
Section
3
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Conditions a state's eligibility for one-call notification and damage prevention program grants on its not providing exemptions to municipalities, state agencies, or their contractors from one-call notification system requirements. Directs the Secretary to study the impact of excavation damage on pipeline safety.
Section
4
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Directs the Secretary to require by regulation the use of automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves, or equivalent technology, on new or entirely replaced transmission pipeline facilities. Directs the Comptroller General to study the ability of transmission pipeline operators to respond to a hazardous liquid or gas release from a pipeline segment in a high-consequence area.
Section
5
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Directs the Secretary to evaluate whether:
(1) integrity management system requirements should be expanded beyond high-consequence areas; and
(2) application of integrity management program requirements for gas transmission pipeline facilities to additional areas would mitigate the need for class location requirements.
Requires the Secretary, after a period of congressional review of such evaluation, but only if certain findings are made, to issue regulations to:
(1) expand integrity management system requirements, or elements of them, beyond high-consequence areas; and
(2) remove redundant class location requirements for gas transmission pipeline facilities regulated under an integrity management program.
Requires the Comptroller General to evaluate whether risk-based reassessment intervals are a more effective alternative for managing risks to pipelines in high-consequence areas once baseline assessments are complete when compared to a 7-year reassessment interval.
Section
6
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Directs the Secretary to:
(1) maintain and update biennially, as part of the National Pipeline Mapping System, a map of designated high consequence areas in which pipelines are required to meet integrity management program regulations; and
(2) develop a program promoting greater awareness of the existence of the National Pipeline Mapping System to state and local emergency responders and other interested parties.
Requires the Secretary to:
(1) maintain on file a copy of the most recent oil spill response plan prepared by a pipeline facility owner or operator, and
(2) provide a nonconfidential copy of the plan to a person upon written request.
Section
7
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Requires the Secretary to conduct biennial follow-up surveys measuring the progress of pipeline facility owners and operators in adopting and implementing plans for the safe management and replacement of cast iron gas pipelines.
Section
8
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Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on leak detection systems utilized by operators of hazardous liquid pipeline facilities and transportation-related flow lines.
Requires the Secretary, after a period of congressional review of the report, but only if certain findings are made, to issue regulations to:
(1) require operators of hazardous liquid pipeline facilities to use leak detection systems where practicable; and
(2) establish technically, operationally, and economically feasible standards for the leak detection capability of those systems.
Section
9
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Requires the Secretary to revise certain regulations to establish specific time limits for telephonic or electronic notice of accidents and incidents involving pipeline facilities to the Secretary and the National Response Center.
Section
10
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Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Secretary to require recordkeeping and inspection compliance with respect to transportation-related onshore facility response plans.
Section
11
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Revises national pipeline mapping system requirements to require each pipeline operator to provide the Secretary certain geospatial or technical data, including design and material specifications.
Section
12
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Authorizes the Secretary to collect geospatial or technical data on transportation-related oil flow lines, including unregulated lines.
Section
13
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Revises requirements for cost recovery of reviews of the design of new gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facilities or liquefied natural gas pipeline facilities. Applies such requirements only to any project that: (1) has design and construction costs totaling at least $2.5 million, or (2) uses new or novel technologies or design. Establishes a Pipeline Safety Design Review Fund in the Treasury.
Section
14
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Subjects to DOT pipeline regulation as hazardous liquids any nonpetroleum fuels, including biofuels, that are flammable, toxic, or corrosive or would be harmful to the environment if released in significant quantities.
Section
15
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Directs the Secretary to prescribe minimum safety standards for the transportation of carbon dioxide by pipeline in a gaseous state. Requires the Secretary to consider whether current federal safety standards for pipelines that transport carbon dioxide in both a liquid and gaseous state would ensure safety.
Section
16
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Directs the Secretary to review hazardous liquid pipeline facility regulations to determine whether they are sufficient to regulate pipeline facilities used for the transportation of diluted bitumen.
Section
17
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Authorizes the Secretary to analyze the transportation of nonpetroleum hazardous liquids to identify the extent to which pipeline facilities are currently used to transport such liquids, such as chlorine, from chemical production facilities across land areas not owned by the producer that are accessible to the public.
Section
19
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Requires the Secretary, for FY2012 and FY2013, and authorizes the Secretary for subsequent fiscal years, to waive certain state cost requirements under a pipeline safety grant to a state that demonstrates an inability to maintain or increase the required funding share of its pipeline safety program because of economic hardship in that state.
Section
20
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Directs the Secretary to issue regulations that require the convening before a presiding official who is a staff attorney of the Deputy Chief Counsel of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of any hearings regarding pipeline facilities hazardous to life and property, civil penalty assessments, compliance orders, safety orders, or corrective action orders.
Requires such regulations to implement a separation of functions between personnel involved with the investigation and prosecution of an enforcement case and advising the Secretary on findings and determinations.
Requires the presiding official also to be one not engaged in investigative or prosecutorial functions.
Section
21
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Directs the Secretary to review existing federal and state regulations for gas and hazardous liquid gathering lines located onshore and offshore in the United States, including within the inlets of the Gulf of Mexico. Requires the Secretary, if appropriate after reviewing such regulations, to subject offshore hazardous liquid gathering lines and hazardous liquid gathering lines located within the inlets of the Gulf of Mexico to the same standards and regulations as other hazardous liquid gathering lines.
Section
22
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Prescribes a next step, if appropriate, after the Secretary issues a final report evaluating the recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on excess flow valves an operator of a natural gas distribution system, under its integrity management program for distribution pipelines, must install in applications other than service lines serving one single family residence.
Directs the Secretary, if appropriate as a next step, to require the use of excess flow valves, or equivalent technology, on new or entirely replaced distribution branch services, multi-family facilities, and small commercial facilities located in high-density population areas and environmentally sensitive areas.
Section
23
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Directs the Secretary to require each gas pipeline operator or owner to verify records for all interstate and intrastate gas transmission pipelines in class 3 and class 4 locations and class 1 and class 2 high consequence areas to ensure they reflect accurately the pipelines' physical and operational characteristics and confirm their established maximum allowable operating pressures.
Directs the Secretary to issue regulations for conducting tests to confirm the material strength of previously untested natural gas transmission pipelines located in high-consequence areas and operating at a pressure greater than 30% of specified minimum yield strength.
Section
24
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Prohibits the Secretary from issuing guidance or a regulation that incorporates by reference any documents unless they are made available to the public, free of charge, on the Internet.
Section
25
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Authorizes the Secretary to provide the services of PHMSA personnel to perform pipeline safety training for state and local government personnel.
Section
26
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Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the participation of minority-owned business enterprises, woman-owned business enterprises, and disadvantaged business enterprises in the construction and operation of pipelines in the United States.
Section
27
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Requires the Comptroller General to study the process for obtaining federal and state permits for pipeline facility construction projects.
Section
28
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Directs the Secretary to study hazardous liquid pipeline incidents at crossings of inland bodies of water with a width of at least 100 feet from high water mark to high water mark to determine if the depth of cover over buried pipelines was a factor in any accidental release of hazardous liquids.
Requires the Secretary, if depth of cover over buried pipelines is a contributing factor in such accidental releases, to:
(1) review and determine the sufficiency of current requirements, and
(2) develop legislative recommendations for improving the safety of buried pipelines at such crossings.
Section
29
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Requires gas and hazardous liquid pipeline operators to consider the seismicity of the area in evaluating all potential threats to pipeline segments.
Section
30
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Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a protocol for consulting with Indian tribes to provide technical assistance for the regulation of pipelines under their jurisdiction.
Section
31
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Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the total number of full-time equivalent PHMSA positions for pipeline inspection and enforcement personnel. Authorizes the Secretary to increase the number of PHMSA pipeline inspection and enforcement personnel by 10 full-time equivalent employees provided certain conditions are met.
Section
32
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Authorizes appropriations for FY2012-FY2015 for: (1) gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety grants, (2) emergency response grants, (3) one-call notification programs, (4) state damage prevention programs, (5) community pipeline safety information grants, and (6) an ongoing pipeline transportation research and development program plan.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/1/hr2845.
Background
According to H. Rept. 112-297 from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, H.R. 2845 would provide for enhanced safety in pipeline transportation and provide for enhanced reliability in the transportation of the Nation's energy products by pipeline. The bill would also ensure regulatory certainty which would help create a positive environment for job development.
The Nation's pipelines are a transportation system that enables the safe movement of extraordinary quantities of energy products to industry and consumers, literally fueling our economy and way of life. Pipelines are the arteries of the Nation's energy infrastructure, as well as the safest and least costly ways to transport energy products.
PHMSA is the federal safety authority for the Nation's 2.3 million miles of natural gas, petroleum and other hazardous liquid pipelines. PHMSA's pipeline safety programs ensure the safe design, construction, testing, operation, maintenance, and emergency response of U.S. hazardous liquid and natural gas pipeline facilities.
The federal pipeline safety programs were last authorized under the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement, and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-468), a four-year authorization for fiscal years 2007 through 2010. The federal pipeline safety programs expired on September 30, 2010.
Summary
H.R. 2845 would reauthorize the federal pipeline safety programs administered by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) for fiscal years 2012 through 2015.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) oversees the safety of pipelines that transport gas or hazardous liquids and provides grants to states for programs to ensure pipeline safety. For those activities, H.R. 2845 would authorize gross appropriations of $505 million over the 2012-2016 period.
The bill would increase the maximum amount of civil penalties the U.S. can seek from pipeline owners or operators who violate pipeline safety rules and regulations. H.R. 2845 would require states to eliminate most exemptions to their ‘Call Before You Dig’ programs in order to receive federal grant funding.
The bill would allow the Secretary to issue a rulemaking requiring the installation of automatic and remote-controlled shutoff valves on newly constructed transmission pipelines but would not require operators to retrofit existing pipelines.
Additionally, the bill would require the Secretary to study expanding pipeline integrity management requirements and leak detection systems but would give Congress the final approval of whether the requirements should be expanded or the leak detection systems should be installed.
H.R. 2845 would require USDOT and pipeline operators to provide information to first responders on the location of pipelines in their jurisdiction. The bill would also require USDOT to review regulations regarding accident reporting requirements for pipeline operators.
The bill would authorize funding to be appropriated for several pipeline safety programs. Specifically, the bill would authorize $107 million a year to be appropriated for safety inspections. The bill would also authorize grants to states funded from pipeline safety fees collected from pipeline operators. Further, it would authorize approximately $13 million a year to be appropriated out of the General Fund for emergency response grants and damage prevention programs.
Cost
According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, about $434 million of the $505 million in appropriations authorized by H.R. 2845 would be offset by fees paid by pipeline operators over the 2012-2016 period. In addition, subject to provisions in appropriation acts, CBO estimates that the bill would authorize PHMSA to collect and spend about $10 million over the 2012-2016 period to recover its costs of conducting safety reviews at a pipeline project in the state of Alaska. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2845 would have a net cost of $45 million over the 2012-2016 period, assuming appropriation of the specified and estimated amounts.
Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting the legislation could affect revenues. H.R. 2845 would increase certain civil penalties for violating pipeline safety regulations. Civil penalties are recorded in the budget as revenues and deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. However, CBO estimates that any increase in civil penalties would be small and would have no significant effect on the federal budget over the next 10 years. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending.
H.R. 2845 contains intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) because it would impose new requirements on both public and private operators of natural gas pipelines. The bill would impose additional private-sector mandates on operators of hazardous liquid pipelines. Because of the relatively small number of public entities affected, CBO estimates that the aggregate cost of intergovernmental mandates in the bill would fall below the annual threshold established in UMRA ($71 million in 2011, adjusted annually for inflation). Because many of the mandates on private entities would depend on future regulations, CBO cannot determine whether the aggregate cost of the private-sector mandates would exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA ($142 million in 2011, adjusted annually for inflation).
Additional information on the CBO estimate can be found here.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
Slip Laws
Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.
- Public Law 107-355:
H.R. 3609 (107th): Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Title 33: NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
- Chapter 26: WATER POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
- Subchapter III: STANDARDS AND ENFORCEMENT
- Section 1321: Oil and hazardous substance liability
- Title 49: TRANSPORTATION
- Subtitle VIII: PIPELINES
- Chapter 601: SAFETY
- Section 60101: Definitions
- Section 60109: High-density population areas and environmentally sensitive areas
- Section 60112: Pipeline facilities hazardous to life and property
- Section 60117: Administrative
- Section 60118: Compliance and waivers
- Section 60122: Civil penalties
Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large is the compilation of all laws enacted by Congress.
- 120 Stat. 3498
Other Citations
- 49 U.S.C. Chapter 601