II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 606

To make improvements in pipeline safety, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 23, 1995

Mr. BRADLEY (for himself and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To make improvements in pipeline safety, 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

5 Enhancement Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPELINE SAFETY

7 (a) TOUGHNESS STANDARDS.—Section 60102 of title

8 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

9 the following new subsections:

10 ‘‘(l) TOUGHNESS STANDARDS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days

2 after the date of enactment of the Pipeline Safety

3 Enhancement Act of 1995, The Secretary of Trans4 portation, in consultation with appropriate officials

5 of the Research and Special Programs Administra6 tion of the Department of Transportation (referred

7 to in this section as the ‘Research and Special Pro8 grams Administration’), shall prescribe minimum

9 standards for toughness (as defined and determined

10 by the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation

11 with the appropriate officials of the Research and

12 Special Programs Administration) for new pipes in13 stalled in gas pipeline facilities and hazardous liquid

14 pipeline facilities.

15 ‘‘(2) HIGH-DENSITY POPULATION AREAS.—In

16 establishing the minimum standards for toughness

17 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Transpor18 tation shall give particular attention to the installa19 tion of new pipes in high-density population areas

20 (as such term is used in section 60109).

21 ‘‘(3) PIPE DEFINED.—For purposes of this sub22 section, the term ‘pipe’ means any pipe or tubing

23 used in the transportation of gas, including pipe24 type holders.

25 ‘‘(m) MARKINGS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later 180 days after

2 the date of enactment of the Pipeline Safety En3 hancement Act of 1995, the Secretary of Transpor4 tation, in consultation with appropriate officials of

5 the Research and Special Programs Administration,

6 shall prescribe minimum standards that require for

7 the marking of pipelines in class 3 and class 4 loca8 tions (as such terms are used in subpart L of part

9 192 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, as in

10 effect on the day before the date of enactment of the

11 Pipeline Safety Enhancement Act of 1995) to iden12 tify hazardous liquid pipeline facilities and high13 pressure pipelines.

14 ‘‘(2) HIGH-PRESSURE PIPELINE DEFINED.—

15 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘high-pres16 sure pipeline’ means any gas pipeline in which the

17 gas pressure is higher than that provided to the cus18 tomer.

19 ‘‘(n) TESTING.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year

21 after the date of enactment of the Pipeline Safety

22 Enhancement Act of 1995, the Secretary of Trans23 portation, in consultation with appropriate officials

24 of the Research and Special Programs Administra25 tion, shall include in the minimum safety standards
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1 prescribed under subsection (a) a requirement that

2 each operator of a gas pipeline facility or hazardous

3 liquid pipeline facilities conduct, on a periodic basis,

4 inspections or tests capable of identifying damage

5 caused by corrosion and other time-dependent dam6 age that may be detrimental to the continued safe

7 operation of the pipeline and that may necessitate

8 remedial action, in order to determine the adequacy

9 of the pipeline facility to operate at established max10 imum allowable operating pressure.

11 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE OPERATING PRES12 SURE DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection,

13 the term ‘maximum allowable operating pressure’

14 means the maximum pressure at which a pipeline or

15 a segment of a pipeline may be operated under regu16 lations issued under this chapter.’’.

17 (b) ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

18 CONCERNING LEAK DETECTION.—Section 60116 of title

19 49, United States Code, is amended—

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

21 ‘‘Under regulations’’; and

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub23 section:

24 ‘‘(b) ASSESSMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days

2 after the date of enactment the Pipeline Safety En3 hancement Act of 1995, and every two years there4 after, the Secretary of Transportation, in consulta5 tion with appropriate officials of the Research and

6 Special Programs Administration of the Department

7 of Transportation, shall conduct an assessment of

8 the programs conducted under this section to deter9 mine—

10 ‘‘(A) with respect to the programs con11 ducted under this section—

12 ‘‘(i) the appropriateness of the infor13 mation provided; and

14 ‘‘(ii) the effectiveness of the edu15 cational techniques used; and

16 ‘‘(B) in comparison to other similar edu17 cational programs, the relative effectiveness of

18 educational techniques used in the programs

19 conducted under this section.

20 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Upon completion of an

21 assessment conducted under paragraph (1), the Sec22 retary, in consultation with the appropriate officials

23 of the Research and Special Programs Administra24 tion, shall promulgate such regulations as the Sec-
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1 retary determines to be appropriate to improve the

2 programs conducted under this section.’’.

3 (c) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall

4 take such action as may be necessary to expedite the com5 pletion of the study conducted by the Research and Spe6 cial Programs Administration of the Department of

7 Transportation relating to methods to reduce public safety

8 risks in the siting pipeline facilities. In addition, the scope

9 of the study referred to in the previous sentence shall be

10 modified to include the consideration of building stand11 ards. The Secretary of Transportation shall ensure that

12 the results of the study are widely available to the govern13 ments of States and political subdivisions thereof.

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