I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8085 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a pipeline safety enhancement program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 21, 2020 

Mr. VEASEY (for himself, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. LATTA, and Mr. BALDERSON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a pipeline safety 

enhancement program, 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 ‘‘Pipeline Safety Pilot 

5 Program Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADVANCEMENT OF NEW PIPELINE SAFETY TECH2 NOLOGIES AND APPROACHES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 601 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 60142. Pipeline safety enhancement programs 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

8 and carry out limited safety-enhancing testing programs 

9 during the period of fiscal years 2020 through 2026 to 

10 evaluate innovative technologies and operational practices 

11 testing the safe operation of— 

12 ‘‘(1) a natural gas pipeline facility; or 

13 ‘‘(2) a hazardous liquid pipeline facility. 

14 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Such testing programs may 

16 not exceed— 

17 ‘‘(A) 5 percent of the total miles of haz18 ardous liquid pipelines in the United States; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) 5 percent of the total miles of natural 

21 gas pipelines in the United States. 

22 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OPERATOR MILEAGE LIMITA23 TION.—The Secretary shall limit the mileage an in24 dividual operator can test under each program es25 tablished under subsection (a) to the lesser of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of the total pipeline mile2 age in the operator’s system; or 

3 ‘‘(B) 1,000 miles. 

4 ‘‘(3) HIGH POPULATION AREAS; HIGH CON5 SEQUENCE AREAS.—Any program established under 

6 subsection (a) shall not be located in a high popu7 lation area (as defined in section 195.450 of title 49, 

8 Code of Federal Regulations) or a high consequence 

9 area (as defined in section 192.903 of title 49, Code 

10 of Federal Regulations). 

11 ‘‘(4) UNUSUALLY SENSITIVE AREAS.—Any pro12 gram established under subsection (a) shall not be 

13 located in an unusually sensitive area (as described 

14 in section 60109(b)). 

15 ‘‘(5) HIGH CONSEQUENCE AREAS FOR HAZ16 ARDOUS LIQUID PIPELINES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

18 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

19 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

20 containing an examination of the benefits and 

21 costs of prohibiting testing in high consequence 

22 areas (as defined in section 195.450 of title 49, 

23 Code of Federal Regulations) for hazardous liq24 uid pipelines. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report 

2 described in subparagraph (A) shall examine 

3 the safety benefits of allowing testing for haz4 ardous liquid pipelines in high consequence 

5 areas and whether additional testing conditions 

6 are required to protect such areas while con7 ducting the program established under sub8 section (a) in such areas. 

9 ‘‘(6) RESTRICTION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

11 not approve a program under this section until 

12 the report required under paragraph (5) is sub13 mitted to Congress. 

14 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The limitation in sub15 paragraph (A) shall not apply if— 

16 ‘‘(i) the Secretary determines that 

17 there is a need for a program under this 

18 section; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) more than 1 year has passed 

20 since the date of enactment of this section. 

21 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—The term of a testing program es22 tablished under subsection (a) shall be not more than a 

23 period of 4 years beginning on the date of approval of the 

24 program. 

25 ‘‘(d) SAFETY STANDARDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall re2 quire, as a condition of approval of a testing pro3 gram under subsection (a), that the safety measures 

4 in the testing program are designed to achieve a 

5 level of safety that is greater than, or equivalent to, 

6 the level of safety required by this chapter. 

7 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

9 issue an order under subparagraph (A) of sec10 tion 60118(c)(1) to accomplish the purpose of 

11 a testing program for a term not to exceed the 

12 time period described in subsection (c) if the 

13 condition described in paragraph (1) is met, as 

14 determined by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—An order under sub16 paragraph (A) shall pertain only to those regu17 lations that would otherwise prevent the use of 

18 the safety technology to be tested under the 

19 testing program. 

20 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing a testing 

21 program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall con22 sider— 

23 ‘‘(1) the accident or incident record of the own24 ers or operators participating in the program; 


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1 ‘‘(2) whether the owners or operators partici2 pating in the program have a safety management 

3 system in place and how the application for such 

4 program proposes to eliminate or mitigate any po5 tential safety risks; 

6 ‘‘(3) a description of any measures or activities 

7 the owners or operators participating in the program 

8 propose to eliminate or mitigate any environmental 

9 risks; 

10 ‘‘(4) a description of any previous testing and 

11 the outcome of such testing of the proposed safety 

12 technology through a research and development pro13 gram carried out by— 

14 ‘‘(A) the Secretary; 

15 ‘‘(B) collaborative research development 

16 organizations; or 

17 ‘‘(C) other institutions; 

18 ‘‘(5) whether there have been other testing pro19 grams granted under subsection (a) similar to the 

20 proposed safety technology and the outcome of such 

21 programs; and 

22 ‘‘(6) whether the pipeline segments tested by 

23 the program could affect, or are outside of, high 

24 consequence areas (as defined in sections 192.903 

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1 tions) and unusually sensitive areas (as described in 

2 section 60109(b)). 

3 ‘‘(f) MULTIPLE OPERATORS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may select 

5 up to 5 owners or operators to carry out a testing 

6 program under subsection (a) in a single application. 

7 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—In selecting owners or 

8 operators under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

9 determine that each testing program proposed by 

10 such owners or operators— 

11 ‘‘(A) meet the requirements of subsection 

12 (d)(1); 

13 ‘‘(B) test a similar technology, best prac14 tice, or related set of technologies and best 

15 practices; and 

16 ‘‘(C) provides appropriate testing condi17 tions for the technologies or practices being 

18 used. 

19 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY TO REVOKE PARTICIPATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an owner or oper21 ator participating in a program established 

22 under subsection (a), the Secretary may revoke 

23 permission to participate in such program if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the owner or operator is involved 

25 in an accident or incident and the testing 


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1 program is determined to be the cause or 

2 a contributing factor of such accident or 

3 incident; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary determines revoca5 tion of permission is warranted for public 

6 safety reasons. 

7 ‘‘(g) DATA AND FINDINGS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a participant in a test9 ing program established under subsection (a), an 

10 owner or operator shall submit to the Secretary de11 tailed findings and a summary of data collected as 

12 a result of participation in the testing program. 

13 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC REPORT.—To the extent prac14 ticable, the Secretary shall make a yearly interim re15 port publicly available on the website of the Depart16 ment of Transportation for any ongoing testing pro17 gram established under subsection (a) summarizing 

18 the progress of such program. 

19 ‘‘(h) AUTHORITY TO REVOKE PARTICIPATION.—The 

20 Secretary shall immediately revoke participation in a test21 ing program under subsection (a) if— 

22 ‘‘(1) the participant has an accident or incident 

23 involving a death, or personal injury necessitating 

24 in-patient hospitalization and the testing program is 


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1 determined to be the cause or a contributing factor 

2 to such accident or incident; 

3 ‘‘(2) the participant fails to comply with the 

4 terms and conditions of the testing program; or 

5 ‘‘(3) in the determination of the Secretary, con6 tinued participation in the testing program by the 

7 participant would be unsafe. 

8 ‘‘(i) AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE PROGRAM.—The 

9 Secretary shall immediately terminate a testing program 

10 under subsection (a) if continuation of the testing pro11 gram would not be consistent with the goals and objectives 

12 of this chapter. 

13 ‘‘(j) STATE RIGHTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) EXEMPTION.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), if a State submits to the Secretary notice 

16 that the State requests an exemption from any test17 ing program considered for establishment under this 

18 section, the State shall be exempt. 

19 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

21 not grant a requested exemption under para22 graph (1) after a testing program is estab23 lished. 

24 ‘‘(B) LATE NOTICE.—The Secretary shall 

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1 graph (1) if the notice submitted under that 

2 paragraph is submitted to the Secretary more 

3 than 10 days after the date on which the Sec4 retary issues an order providing an effective 

5 date for the testing program. 

6 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—A State shall be eligible to 

7 withdraw from a testing program if an owner or op8 erator conducting such testing program in such 

9 State has an incident involving a death, a personal 

10 injury necessitating in-patient hospitalization, or a 

11 reportable accident (within the meaning of sections 

12 195.50 and 191.3 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu13 lations), and the testing program is determined to be 

14 the cause or a contributing factor to such incident. 

15 ‘‘(4) EFFECT.—If a State has not submitted a 

16 notice requesting an exemption under paragraph (1), 

17 the State shall not enforce any law (including regu18 lations) that is inconsistent with a testing program 

19 in effect in the State under this section. 

20 ‘‘(k) PROGRAM REVIEW PROCESS AND PUBLIC NO21 TICE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall publish 

23 in the Federal Register a notice of each testing pro24 gram under subsection (a), including the order to be 


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1 considered, and provide an opportunity for public 

2 comment for not less than 60 days. 

3 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATION WITH STATES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As part of carrying 

5 out the process described in paragraph (1), the 

6 Secretary shall individually notify, at the time 

7 described in paragraph (1), the relevant au8 thorities in the States such testing programs 

9 would be conducted in. 

10 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION CONTENTS.—The no11 tification described in subparagraph (A) shall 

12 include a specific list of the laws or regulations 

13 that the State would not be allowed to enforce 

14 pursuant to subsection (j)(4) should such test15 ing program go into effect, and the ability of 

16 the State to request an exemption from the pro17 gram. 

18 ‘‘(3) RESPONSE FROM SECRETARY.—Not later 

19 than the date on which the Secretary issues an order 

20 providing an effective date of a testing program no21 ticed under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall re22 spond to each comment submitted under that para23 graph. 

24 ‘‘(l) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the conclusion of 

25 each testing program, the Secretary shall make publicly 


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1 available on the website of the Department of Transpor2 tation a report containing— 

3 ‘‘(1) the findings and conclusions of the Sec4 retary with respect to the testing program; and 

5 ‘‘(2) any recommendations of the Secretary 

6 with respect to the testing program, including any 

7 recommendations for amendments to laws (including 

8 regulations) and the establishment of standards, 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(A) would enhance the safe operation of 

11 interstate gas or hazardous liquid pipeline fa12 cilities; and 

13 ‘‘(B) are technically, operationally, and 

14 economically feasible. 

15 ‘‘(m) STANDARDS.—If a report under subsection (l) 

16 indicates that it is practicable to establish technically, 

17 operationally, and economically feasible standards for the 

18 use of a safety-enhancing technology and any cor19 responding operational practices tested by the testing pro20 gram described in the report, the Secretary, as soon as 

21 practicable after submission of the report, may promulgate 

22 regulations consistent with chapter 5 of title 5 (commonly 

23 known as the ‘Administrative Procedures Act’) that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) allow operators of interstate gas or haz2 ardous liquid pipeline facilities to use the relevant 

3 technology or practice to the extent practicable; and 

4 ‘‘(2) establish technically, operationally, and 

5 economically feasible standards for the capability 

6 and deployment of the technology or practice.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

8 for chapter 601 of title 49, United States Code, is amend9 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 60141 

10 the following: 

‘‘60142. Pipeline safety enhancement programs.’’. 

Æ 


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