II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1208 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require gas pipeline facilities 

to accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of high-risk pipelines used in commerce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2015 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require gas pipeline facilities to accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and 

replacement of high-risk pipelines used in commerce, 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 Modernization 

5 and Consumer Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPLACEMENT PROGRAMS FOR HIGH-RISK NAT7 URAL GAS PIPELINES. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) Federal requirements related to repairing 

2 pipeline leaks are limited to ‘‘hazardous’’ leaks, 

3 which are leaks that represent an existing or prob4 able hazard to persons or property and require im5 mediate repair; 

6 (2) there are no Federal requirements to ad7 dress slower or less hazardous leaks, which can allow 

8 the leaks to persist unrepaired indefinitely; 

9 (3) in States without a standard definition and 

10 methodology for calculating unaccounted-for gas (the 

11 difference between the amount of gas purchased by 

12 a utility and the amount used or sold to customers), 

13 data inconsistencies may be pervasive and these in14 consistencies hinder the ability of regulators to mon15 itor gas system and utility performance; 

16 (4) the cost of leaked or otherwise unaccounted17 for natural gas in the distribution system is typically 

18 passed on to ratepayers without limitation as an ac19 cepted cost of service, which removes financial incen20 tive for utilities to minimize the leaks; 

21 (5) methane, the primary constituent of natural 

22 gas, is a greenhouse gas at least 20 times more po23 tent than carbon dioxide; 

24 (6) according to the Pipeline and Hazardous 

25 Materials Safety Administration, the United States 


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1 natural gas distribution system still includes 61,000 

2 miles of bare steel pipe without adequate corrosion 

3 protection and 32,000 miles of cast iron pipe, which 

4 was installed beginning in the 1830s and can be 

5 prone to failure; 

6 (7) major recent pipeline explosions that led to 

7 human fatalities, including those in Austin, Texas, 

8 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Allentown, Pennsyl9 vania, have been traced to aging, leaking, and high10 risk pipeline infrastructure; 

11 (8) natural gas distribution utilities may be dis12 couraged from making capital expenditures for the 

13 replacement of leaking and failure-prone pipelines 

14 because traditional ratemaking structures may not 

15 allow for cost recovery on a timely basis; and 

16 (9) according to the Pipeline and Hazardous 

17 Materials Safety Administration, the natural gas 

18 pipeline replacement programs established as part of 

19 the ratemaking process in 27 States and the District 

20 of Columbia have played a vital role in enhancing 

21 public safety by better ensuring the prompt rehabili22 tation, repair, or replacement of high-risk natural 

23 gas distribution infrastructure. 

24 (b) NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 601 of title 49, 

2 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

3 section 60112 the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 60112A. Replacement programs for high-risk nat5 ural gas pipelines 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF GAS PIPELINE FACILITY.—In 

7 this section, the term ‘gas pipeline facility’ includes— 

8 ‘‘(1) a distribution facility; and 

9 ‘‘(2) a gas utility. 

10 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—Each operator of a gas pipeline 

11 facility shall, in accordance with an integrity management 

12 program required under section 60109 of this title, if ap13 plicable, accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and replace14 ment of gas piping or equipment that— 

15 ‘‘(1) is leaking; or 

16 ‘‘(2) may pose high risks of leaking, or may no 

17 longer be fit for service, because of— 

18 ‘‘(A) inferior materials; 

19 ‘‘(B) poor construction practices; 

20 ‘‘(C) lack of maintenance; or 

21 ‘‘(D) age. 

22 ‘‘(c) POLICY OPTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In complying with sub24 section (b), each State regulatory authority and each 

25 nonregulated gas utility shall consider— 


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1 ‘‘(A) developing prioritized timelines to re2 pair all leaks based on the severity of the leak, 

3 including non-hazardous leaks, or replace iden4 tified leaking or high-risk piping or equipment, 

5 including leaks identified as part of an integrity 

6 management plan developed under section 

7 192.1007 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula8 tions, if applicable; 

9 ‘‘(B) adopting a cost-recovery program 

10 that includes— 

11 ‘‘(i) replacement plans with targets 

12 and benchmarks for leaking or high-risk 

13 infrastructure replacement; 

14 ‘‘(ii) consideration of the economic, 

15 safety, and environmental benefits of re16 duced gas leakage, including consideration 

17 of reduced operation and maintenance 

18 costs and reduced costs attributable to lost 

19 or unaccounted-for natural gas; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) reporting on the reductions in 

21 lost or unaccounted-for gas as a result of 

22 pipeline replacements; 

23 ‘‘(C) adopting a standard definition and 

24 methodology for calculating and reporting unac25 counted-for gas to improve data quality; 


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1 ‘‘(D) adopting limits on cost recovery for 

2 lost and unaccounted-for gas; and 

3 ‘‘(E) requiring use of best available tech4 nology to detect gas leaks.’’. 

5 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND6 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 601 of 

7 title 49, United States Code, is amended by insert8 ing after the item relating to section 60112 the fol9 lowing: 

‘‘60112A. Replacement programs for high-risk natural gas pipelines.’’. 

10 (c) NON-BINDING GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING

11 AND CLASSIFYING HIGH-RISK PIPELINE INFRASTRUC12 TURE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

15 of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Ad16 ministration shall, after consultation with State reg17 ulatory authorities, the Secretary of Energy, the Ad18 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

19 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and 

20 other appropriate Federal agencies, and after notice 

21 and opportunity for comment, issue non-binding 

22 guidelines identifying best practices under section 

23 60112A of title 49, United States Code (as added by 

24 subsection (b)). 


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1 (2) PRESERVING THE INTEGRITY OF ACTIONS

2 ALREADY TAKEN BY STATE REGULATORY AUTHORI3 TIES.—In formulating guidelines under paragraph 

4 (1), the Administrator of the Pipeline and Haz5 ardous Materials Safety Administration shall, to the 

6 extent practicable, preserve the integrity of, and be 

7 guided by, actions already taken by State regulatory 

8 authorities to ensure proper identification, classifica9 tion, and timely repair of high-risk pipeline infra10 structure and leaks, including actions taken after 

11 consideration of the standard under section 

12 303(b)(6) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

13 Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3203(b)(6)). 

14 (3) REVISION OF GUIDELINES.—Not less fre15 quently than once every 7 years, the Administrator 

16 of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Ad17 ministration shall review and, as appropriate, revise 

18 the guidelines issued under paragraph (1) to reflect 

19 changes in the composition and safety performance 

20 of the pipeline infrastructure in the United States. 

21 SEC. 3. DATA STANDARDIZATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, not later than 1 year after the date of enact24 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Pipeline and 

25 Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the heads 


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1 of other applicable Federal agencies shall, in consultation 

2 with State and local agencies under subsection (c), work 

3 jointly to establish and publish forms that adopt a stand4 ard definition and methodology for calculating and report5 ing unaccounted-for gas, including, when possible, infor6 mation on the causes of unaccounted-for gas and the 

7 quantities associated with each cause, for use by applicable 

8 Federal agencies to standardize the data collected on un9 accounted-for gas. 

10 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this section, 

11 the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Mate12 rials Safety Administration and the heads of other applica13 ble Federal agencies may— 

14 (1) establish an interagency working group; and 

15 (2) enter into a memorandum of understanding. 

16 (c) CONSULTATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL AGEN17 CIES.—The Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous 

18 Materials Safety Administration and the heads of other 

19 applicable Federal agencies shall offer to work with State 

20 and local regulatory authorities to adopt a standard defini21 tion and methodology for calculating and reporting unac22 counted-for gas to standardize the data collected by Fed23 eral, State, and local governments. 

Æ 


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