I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4758

To strengthen and improve the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 14, 1994

Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, and Mr. FLAKE) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees

on Public Works and Transportation and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To strengthen and improve the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety

Act of 1968, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Durham Woods Natu5 ral Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. INCREASED INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS IN HIGH7 DENSITY POPULATION AREAS.

8 (a) INSTRUMENTED INTERNAL INSPECTION DE9 VICES.—Section 3(g)(2) of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safe10 ty Act of 1968 (49 U.S.C. App. 1672(g)(2)) is amended
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1 by inserting ‘‘, not less than once every 7 years,’’ after

2 ‘‘requiring the periodic inspection’’.

3 (b) ADDITIONAL INSPECTIONS.—Section 3 of the

4 Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49 U.S.C. App.

5 1672) is amended by adding at the end the following new

6 subsection:

7 ‘‘(l) ADDITIONAL INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS.—

8 Within 2 years after the date of enactment of this sub9 section, the Secretary shall issue regulations requiring

10 that each operator of transmission pipelines—

11 ‘‘(1) establish a program for observing from the

12 air, or inspecting from the ground, or both, at least

13 once every month, the surface conditions on and ad14 jacent to the right-of-way of all of such operator’s

15 transmission pipelines identified pursuant to sub16 section (i) for indications of leaks, construction, and

17 other circumstances affecting safety or operation;

18 and

19 ‘‘(2) place line markers along the rights-of-way

20 of all of such operator’s transmission pipelines iden21 tified pursuant to subsection (i), unless such place22 ment is impractical.’’.

23 SEC. 3. DAMAGE REPORTING.

24 Section 20(g)(2) of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety

25 Act of 1968 (49 U.S.C. App. 1687(g)(2)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph

2 (A);

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub4 paragraph (C); and

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol6 lowing new subparagraph:

7 ‘‘(B) a natural gas pipeline facility and

8 does not report the damage promptly to the op9 erator of the pipeline facility or other appro10 priate authorities; or’’.

11 SEC. 4. INCREASED PENALTIES.

12 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—(1) Section 20(g) of the

13 Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49 U.S.C. App.

14 1687(g)) is amended by striking ‘‘5 years’’ and inserting

15 in lieu thereof ‘‘10 years’’.

16 (2) Section 11(c) of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety

17 Act of 1968 (49 U.S.C. App. 1679a(c)) is amended—

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$25,000, im19 prisonment for a term not to exceed 5 years’’ and

20 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$100,000, imprisonment

21 for a term not to exceed 10 years’’;

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$25,000, im23 prisonment for a term not to exceed 15 years’’ and

24 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$100,000, imprisonment

25 for a term not to exceed 30 years’’; and
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1 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$5,000, im2 prisonment for a term not to exceed 1 year’’ and in3 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘$50,000, imprisonment for a

4 term not to exceed 5 years’’.

5 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 11(a) of the Natural

6 Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49 U.S.C. App.

7 1679a(a)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (1)—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘or section 20(h)’’ and in10 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘, section 20(h), or sec11 tion 22(a)’’;

12 (B) by striking ‘‘$25,000’’ and inserting in

13 lieu thereof ‘‘$50,000’’; and

14 (C) by striking ‘‘$500,000’’ and inserting

15 in lieu thereof ‘‘$1,000,000’’; and

16 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$50,000’’

17 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$100,000’’.

18 SEC. 5. PUBLIC AWARENESS.

19 Section 18(a) of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act

20 of 1968 (49 U.S.C. App. 1685(a)) is amended—

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Each person

22 who’’; and

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new

24 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall, to the extent provided in

2 advance in appropriations Acts, make grants to States for

3 the promotion of public awareness of the dangers of exca4 vating near natural gas pipelines by advertising in the

5 media and other means.’’.

6 SEC. 6. PIPELINE SAFETY STUDY.

7 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall

8 conduct a comprehensive study on the safety of all natural

9 gas transmission pipelines in the State of New Jersey.

10 Such study shall address, at a minimum—

11 (1) increasing population encroachment on

12 pipeline rights-of-way;

13 (2) environmental concerns;

14 (3) financial pressures on the pipeline industry

15 to control their costs; and

16 (4) the feasibility of utilizing remotely operated

17 or automatic shut-off valves, and their appropriate

18 spacing.

19 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

21 Transportation shall transmit to the Congress a report

22 containing the results of the study conducted under sub23 section (a).
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1 SEC. 7. RISK ASSESSMENT.

2 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of Transportation

3 shall conduct an assessment of the risks to public safety

4 and the environment posed by the transportation of natu5 ral gas by pipeline. Such assessment shall—

6 (1) rank the risks identified by the Secretary in

7 terms of their probability of occurrence and the se8 verity of their likely consequences, and in terms of

9 any other factors the Secretary considers relevant;

10 (2) identify and prioritize technically feasible

11 and economically justified actions that should be

12 taken to lessen the risks identified; and

13 (3) address, at a minimum—

14 (A) inspection by instrumented internal in15 spection devices;

16 (B) installation of emergency flow restrict17 ing devices;

18 (C) inspection and burial of underwater

19 pipelines; and

20 (D) inspection and replacement of cast

21 iron pipelines.

22 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18

23 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of Transportation shall transmit to the Congress

25 a report including the assessment required under sub-
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1 section (a) and a plan for actions proposed by the Sec2 retary to address each risk identified in the assessment.

3 SEC. 8. MAPPING.

4 The National Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49

5 U.S.C. App. 1671–1688) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 22. MAPPING.

8 ‘‘(a) LOCATION OF TRANSMISSION PIPELINES.—The

9 owner or operator of each of the Nation’s transmission

10 pipelines shall inform the Secretary of the specific location

11 of such transmission pipelines.

12 ‘‘(b) COMPREHENSIVE MAPPING PROGRAM.—The

13 Secretary, using the information received under subsection

14 (a) and any other information available to the Secretary,

15 shall develop a comprehensive mapping program to iden16 tify the specific location of all of the Nation’s transmission

17 pipelines. The program shall include information on the

18 proximity of transmission pipelines to high-density popu19 lation areas, environmentally sensitive areas, water in20 takes, and other appropriate areas or facilities. The Sec21 retary shall establish an electronic data base for the com22 prehensive mapping program, and shall ensure that such

23 data base is available to the public in an appropriate man24 ner.
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1 ‘‘(c) SECURITY.—The Secretary shall ensure the se2 curity of the program developed under subsection (b)

3 against terrorism, sabotage, and other threats.’’.

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