Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 7 -- Pipeline safety legislation considered dead a few weeks earlier came back to life as the US House passed an amended bill by voice vote on Dec. 6. The measure headed for the Senate, where prompt approval was expected.
The amended bill, HR 5782, authorizes enforcement of low-stress crude oil pipelines, addresses excavation damage, and requires the US Department of Transportation to prescribe minimum integrity management standards for natural gas utilities, according to Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chief minority member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Instead of a conference, informal negotiations the past few weeks between House and Senate energy and transportation leaders have apparently produced a final bill that could be passed before the 109th Congress completes its lame-duck session.
The amended HR 5782 reached the full House following extensive work by both the Energy and Commerce and the Transportation and Infrastructure committees, Dingell said in his floor statement supporting the bill.
Reauthorization of the federal pipeline safety act for 4 years was proceeding smoothly until oil-gathering line leaks forced BP to shut down parts of its Prudhoe Bay operations in Alaska this summer.
"After the Prudhoe Bay incident, I announced that pipeline safety reauthorization needed to include three important elements: First, the law needed to be changed to cover low-stress pipelines such as those that failed in Alaska. Second, enforcement needed to be strengthened. And third, we needed more transparency in DOT's enforcement processes," said Dingell, who added that HR 5782 accomplishes those objectives.
DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) also proposed regulations in late September covering low-stress oil pipelines, which it said had been in the works before the BP Prudhoe Bay leaks were discovered.
Excavation damage
He said the bill also addresses third-party excavation damage by requiring states with DOT-certified pipeline safety programs to establish damage prevention programs. "The bill establishes grants for states to carry out such programs and includes new penalty provisions for those who fail to abide by a state's call-before-you-dig program," Dingell said.
Trade associations representing pipelines and gas utilities sought such a provision. In a statement issued earlier on Dec. 6, American Gas Association Pres. David N. Parker said the group "has been calling for stronger state excavation damage control programs since the pipeline safety reauthorization debate began."
Dingell said minimum integrity-management standards in the bill include a requirement that excess flow valves be installed on all new service lines. The amended HR 5782 also contains a provision requiring PHMSA to publish a monthly summary of its enforcement actions involving both gas and oil pipelines and language requiring pipeline operators to limit employees' hours of service.
The current bill does not change a gas pipeline inspection interval, which the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America had sought, but officials of that organization said they were encouraged by reports that PHMSA Administrator Thomas J. Barrett has asserted authority to issue waivers in such cases. "We're not complaining," one INGAA official said on Dec. 6.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
