II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1226 

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to equalize liability and financial 

assurance requirements for onshore pipeline facilities that could discharge 

oil into the Great Lakes system with such requirements for offshore 

pipelines, to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to issue an emergency order directing pipeline owners to comply with existing pipeline 

operating agreements or acquire sufficient resources to appropriately 

respond to possible oil spill incidents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2017 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to equalize liability 

and financial assurance requirements for onshore pipeline 

facilities that could discharge oil into the Great Lakes 

system with such requirements for offshore pipelines, 

to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to issue 

an emergency order directing pipeline owners to comply 

with existing pipeline operating agreements or acquire 

sufficient resources to appropriately respond to possible 

oil spill incidents, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Liability Insurance in 

3 Event of Spill Act’’ or the ‘‘LINES Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 1001 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 

6 U.S.C. 2701) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (9), (10), (11), 

8 (12) through (15), (16) through (24), (25), (26), 

9 (27), (28), (29), (30), (31), (32), (33), (34) through 

10 (37), (38), (39), (40), (41), (42), (43), and (44) as 

11 paragraphs (10), (13), (14), (17) through (20), (22) 

12 through (30), (32), (33), (36), (35), (37), (39), (38), 

13 (40), (41), (43) through (46), (34), (9), (11), (12), 

14 (21), (31), and (42), respectively; and 

15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (14) (as redes16 ignated) the following: 

17 ‘‘(15) GREAT LAKES PIPELINE.—The term 

18 ‘Great Lakes pipeline’ means any pipeline that 

19 crosses the navigable waters of the Great Lakes sys20 tem. 

21 ‘‘(16) GREAT LAKES SYSTEM.—The term 

22 ‘Great Lakes system’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake 

24 Huron (including Lake St. Clair), Lake Michi25 gan, and Lake Superior, and the connecting 

26 channels (Saint Mary’s River, Saint Clair River, 


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1 Detroit River, Niagara River, and Saint Law2 rence River to the Canadian border); and 

3 ‘‘(B) any tributary of a lake or connecting 

4 channel described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

5 SEC. 3. LIABILITY FOR GREAT LAKES PIPELINES. 

6 Section 1004(a) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 

7 U.S.C. 2704(a)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

9 end; 

10 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 

11 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(5) for a Great Lakes pipeline, the total of all 

14 removal costs plus $75,000,000.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENT FOR 

16 GREAT LAKES PIPELINES. 

17 Section 1016(c) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 

18 U.S.C. 2716(c)) is amended— 

19 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

20 ‘‘AND GREAT LAKES PIPELINES’’ after ‘‘FACILI21 TIES’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(3) GREAT LAKES PIPELINES.—A responsible 

24 party with respect to a Great Lakes pipeline shall 

25 establish and maintain evidence of financial responVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Jun 02, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1226.IS S1226

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1 sibility in the same manner as described in para2 graph (1).’’. 

3 SEC. 5. EMERGENCY ORDER AUTHORITY. 

4 Section 60117(o) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue 

9 an emergency order described in paragraph (3) to 

10 impose emergency restrictions, prohibitions, and 

11 safety measures on owners and operators of haz12 ardous liquid pipeline facilities, without prior notice 

13 or an opportunity for a hearing, to the extent nec14 essary to abate an imminent hazard described in 

15 subparagraph (A), comply with the conditions re16 ferred to in subparagraph (B), or acquire the nec17 essary insurance or other resources needed to re18 spond to an oil spill referred to in subparagraph (C) 

19 if the Secretary— 

20 ‘‘(A) determines that an unsafe condition 

21 or practice, or a combination of unsafe condi22 tions and practices, constitutes or is causing an 

23 imminent hazard; 

24 ‘‘(B) discovers reliable evidence that the 

25 pipeline is violating conditions required for its 


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1 operation that were previously agreed upon be2 tween the responsible party and a State, tribal, 

3 or local government; or 

4 ‘‘(C) after consultation with the Adminis5 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

6 and the Commandant of the Coast Guard, de7 termines that— 

8 ‘‘(i) inadequate resources are available 

9 to respond to and clean up an oil spill dur10 ing seasonal conditions or conditions ex11 pected or caused by an extreme weather 

12 event; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the responsible party cannot 

14 demonstrate, through any of the methods 

15 described in section 1016(e) of the Oil Pol16 lution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2716(e)) 

17 that it has sufficient financial resources to 

18 satisfy the liability limits described in sec19 tion 1004 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 2704) in 

20 the event of an oil spill incident.’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘the vio24 lation’’; and 


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1 (ii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(ii) evidence that the pipeline is vio4 lating required operating conditions; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) the reasons that responsible par6 ty’s existing resources are inadequate to 

7 remedy either of the situations described in 

8 paragraph (1)(C);’’; and 

9 (B) in subparagraph (E)— 

10 (i) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘how the 

11 order’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end and 

13 inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(ii) what the responsible party shall 

15 be required to do to ensure that the pipe16 line complies with applicable operating con17 ditions; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) the resources that the respon19 sible party shall be required to acquire to 

20 remedy either of the situations described in 

21 paragraph (1)(C); and’’. 

Æ 


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