I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6509 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a confidential voluntary information-sharing system 

to encourage the sharing of pipeline safety data, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2023 

Mr. MOLINARO (for himself and Mr. COHEN) 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 require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a confidential voluntary information-sharing system to encourage the 

sharing of pipeline safety data, 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 ‘‘Voluntary Information5 Sharing System Act’’. 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6509 IH

1 SEC. 2. PIPELINE SAFETY VOLUNTARY INFORMATION2 SHARING SYSTEM. 

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

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

6 ‘‘§ 60144. Voluntary information-sharing system 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab9 lish a confidential voluntary information-sharing sys10 tem (referred to in this section as ‘VIS’) to encour11 age the sharing of pipeline safety data and informa12 tion in a non-punitive context in order to improve 

13 the safety of gas, carbon dioxide, and hazardous liq14 uid gathering, transmission, and distribution pipe15 lines and facilities, including storage facilities. 

16 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the VIS is to 

17 establish a comprehensive, systematic, and inte18 grated structure to gather, evaluate, and quantify 

19 critical pipeline safety data and information and to 

20 share recommended remediation measures and les21 sons learned across the pipeline industry in an effort 

22 to improve pipeline safety, including damage preven23 tion efforts, while protecting participant confiden24 tiality. 

25 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT.—In 

26 establishing the VIS under this section, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Dec 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.IH H6509

ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6509 IH

1 retary shall implement and manage such VIS based 

2 on the Pipeline Safety Voluntary Information-Shar3 ing System Recommendation Report prepared pur4 suant to section 10 of the Protecting Our Infra5 structure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 

6 2016 (49 U.S.C. 60108 note). 

7 ‘‘(4) INAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The VIS 

8 shall not be considered a Federal advisory committee 

9 and shall not be subject to the requirements of chap10 ter 10 of title 5. 

11 ‘‘(b) GOVERNANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Governing Board, a Pro13 gram Manager, a Third-Party Information Manager, 

14 and Issue Analysis Teams shall govern the VIS. 

15 ‘‘(2) GOVERNING BOARD.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

17 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

18 the Administrator of the Pipeline and Haz19 ardous Materials Safety Administration shall 

20 appoint a Governing Board after consulting 

21 with public and private pipeline safety stake22 holders. 

23 ‘‘(B) COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD.—The 

24 Governing Board shall be comprised of at least 

25 9 members and shall represent a balanced 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6509 IH

1 cross-section of pipeline safety stakeholders 

2 with pipeline safety knowledge or experience as 

3 follows: 

4 ‘‘(i) at least 3 individuals shall be se5 lected from departments, agencies, instru6 mentalities of the Federal Government, 

7 Territories, State governments, or local 

8 governments, 1 of which shall be the Ad9 ministrator. 

10 ‘‘(ii) at least 3 individuals shall be se11 lected from the gas, carbon dioxide, or haz12 ardous liquid industries, such as operators, 

13 trade associations, inspection technology, 

14 coating, and cathodic protection vendors, 

15 and pipeline inspection organizations. 

16 ‘‘(iii) at least 3 individuals shall be se17 lected from public safety advocate organi18 zations, such as pipeline safety and envi19 ronmental advocacy groups, public safety20 focused research institutions, or labor and 

21 worker safety representatives. 

22 ‘‘(C) BOARD TERMS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each member of 

24 the Governing Board shall be appointed for 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6509 IH

1 a term of 3 years, with the terms of 3 of 

2 the members expiring each year. 

3 ‘‘(ii) TERM EXPIRATION.—The term 

4 of at least 1 member of each of the 3 

5 stakeholder groups established in subpara6 graph (B) shall expire each year. 

7 ‘‘(iii) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—In the 

8 initial appointment of members, terms of 

9 1, 2, and 3 years shall be established to 

10 allow the terms of 3 members to expire 

11 thereafter each year. 

12 ‘‘(iv) REAPPOINTMENT.—Each mem13 ber may be reappointed for consecutive 3- 

14 year terms. 

15 ‘‘(D) CO-CHAIRS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Governing 

17 Board shall be co-chaired by— 

18 ‘‘(I) the Administrator; 

19 ‘‘(II) a representative of the 

20 stakeholder group described in sub21 paragraph (B)(ii), who shall be ap22 pointed with advice and consent of the 

23 Governing Board; and 

24 ‘‘(III) a representative of the 

25 stakeholder group described in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Dec 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.IH H6509

ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6509 IH

1 paragraph (B)(iii), who shall be ap2 pointed with advice and consent of the 

3 Governing Board. 

4 ‘‘(ii) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The co5 chairs of the Governing Board shall be 

6 jointly responsible for organizing and con7 ducting meetings of the Governing Board. 

8 ‘‘(E) AUTHORITY.—The Governing Board 

9 shall make decisions by a super-majority of two10 thirds plus 1 of the Governing Board members 

11 and shall have the authority to— 

12 ‘‘(i) govern and provide strategic over13 sight to the VIS; 

14 ‘‘(ii) develop governance documents, 

15 including a Governing Board charter that 

16 is made available to the public, and that 

17 describes the scope of the authority and 

18 objectives of the Board; 

19 ‘‘(iii) select a Third-Party Data Man20 ager described in paragraph (4) with ex21 pertise in data protection, aggregation, and 

22 analytics and geographic information sys23 tems; 

24 ‘‘(iv) approve the criteria and proce25 dures governing how the Third-Party Data 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 6509 IH

1 Manager described in paragraph (4) will 

2 receive and accept pipeline safety data and 

3 information and who will have the author4 ity to view VIS data; 

5 ‘‘(v) establish and appoint members to 

6 Issue Analysis Teams described in para7 graph (5) that consist of technical and 

8 subject matter experts; 

9 ‘‘(vi) collaborate with Issue Analysis 

10 Teams described in paragraph (5) to iden11 tify the issues and topics to be analyzed; 

12 ‘‘(vii) collaborate with Issue Analysis 

13 Teams described in paragraph (5) to speci14 fy the type of de-identified pipeline safety 

15 data and information that Issue Analysis 

16 Teams need in order to analyze the issues 

17 identified under clause (vi) and topics; 

18 ‘‘(viii) determine the information to be 

19 disseminated; 

20 ‘‘(ix) determine the reports to be dis21 seminated; 

22 ‘‘(x) at least once per year, issue a re23 port to the public on VIS processes, mem24 bership of the Governing Board, issues or 

25 topics being investigated and analyzed, 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 6509 IH

1 pipeline safety data and information that 

2 the VIS has requested for submission to 

3 the VIS, and safety trends identified; and 

4 ‘‘(xi) perform other functions as the 

5 Governing Board decides are necessary or 

6 appropriate consistent with the purpose of 

7 the VIS. 

8 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM MANAGER.—The Administrator 

9 shall provide the day-to-day program management 

10 and administrative support for the VIS, including 

11 oversight of the Third-Party Data Manager de12 scribed in paragraph (4). 

13 ‘‘(4) THIRD-PARTY DATA MANAGER.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Third-Party Data 

15 Manager shall provide data management and 

16 data oversight services for the VIS. 

17 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—In fulfilling the 

18 responsibilities described in subparagraph (A), 

19 the Third-Party Data Manager shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) accept pipeline safety data and 

21 information submitted to the VIS that 

22 meets the criteria and procedures estab23 lished by the Governing Board under para24 graph (2)(E)(iv); 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 6509 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) de-identify, securely store, and 

2 manage pipeline safety data and informa3 tion that is accepted by the VIS; 

4 ‘‘(iii) collaborate with Issue Analysis 

5 Teams described in paragraph (5) to ag6 gregate and analyze de-identified pipeline 

7 safety data and information that is accept8 ed by the VIS; 

9 ‘‘(iv) prepare reports as requested by 

10 the Governing Board regarding the type of 

11 pipeline safety data and information that 

12 is managed by the VIS; and 

13 ‘‘(v) make recommendations regarding 

14 the management of pipeline safety data 

15 and information, as appropriate. 

16 ‘‘(5) ISSUE ANALYSIS TEAMS.—Issue Analysis 

17 Teams of the VIS shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) work with the Third-Party Data 

19 Manager described in paragraph (4) to aggre20 gate and analyze de-identified pipeline safety 

21 data and information accepted by the VIS; 

22 ‘‘(B) collaborate with the Governing Board 

23 to identify issues and topics for analysis and 

24 submit internal reports and recommendations to 

25 the Governing Board; and 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 6509 IH

1 ‘‘(C) prepare reports as requested by the 

2 Governing Board regarding issues and topics 

3 identified for additional research by the Gov4 erning Board. 

5 ‘‘(6) PARTICIPATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The submission of 

7 pipeline safety data and information to the VIS 

8 by any person shall be voluntary, with no per9 son compelled to participate in or submit data 

10 or information for inclusion in the VIS. 

11 ‘‘(B) ACCEPTANCE OF INFORMATION.— 

12 The VIS shall implement policies to ensure that 

13 all operator data or information submitted has 

14 been authorized by the operator for submission. 

15 ‘‘(C) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—The 

16 Governing Board shall encourage the voluntary 

17 sharing of pipeline safety data and information 

18 among operators of gas, carbon dioxide, and 

19 hazardous liquid gathering, transmission, and 

20 distribution pipelines and facilities, employees, 

21 labor unions, contractors, in-line inspection 

22 service providers, non-destructive evaluation ex23 perts, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

24 Safety Administration, representatives of State 

25 pipeline safety agencies, local and Tribal govVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Dec 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.IH H6509

ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 6509 IH

1 ernments, pipeline safety advocacy groups, 

2 manufacturers, research and academic institu3 tions, and other pipeline stakeholders. 

4 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION SHARING.— 

5 ‘‘(1) INCLUSIONS.—Pipeline safety data and in6 formation accepted by the VIS may include— 

7 ‘‘(A) pipeline integrity risk analysis infor8 mation; 

9 ‘‘(B) lessons learned from accidents and 

10 near misses; 

11 ‘‘(C) process improvements; 

12 ‘‘(D) technology deployment practices; 

13 ‘‘(E) information obtained through VIS 

14 pipeline safety surveys of pipeline operator em15 ployees, as long as such surveys are voluntarily 

16 agreed to by the pipeline operator; and 

17 ‘‘(F) pipeline safety data and information 

18 which may lead to the identification of pipeline 

19 safety risks. 

20 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 ‘‘(A) CONFIDENTIALITY.—To facilitate the 

23 sharing of otherwise non-public pipeline safety 

24 data and information (hereinafter known as 

25 ‘non-public information’) in the VIS, non-public 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 6509 IH

1 information accepted by the VIS and which 

2 may be analyzed, stored, or managed by the 

3 VIS shall be kept confidential by the VIS. 

4 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subpara5 graph (A) shall not be construed to apply to 

6 public information that may be submitted to the 

7 VIS or to non-public information that is re8 quired to be submitted to any Federal, State, 

9 local, or Tribal agency under any other provi10 sion of law. 

11 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF DE-IDENTIFIED, NON12 PUBLIC INFORMATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub14 sections (e) and (f), the Governing Board may 

15 approve the disclosure of de-identified, non-pub16 lic information by the VIS or by the Adminis17 trator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

18 Safety Administration based on analysis of the 

19 de-identified information and any safety find20 ings or recommendations that the Governing 

21 Board in the sole discretion of the Board deter22 mines to publish or authorizes the Adminis23 trator to publish to improve pipeline safety. 

24 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC REPORTS.—In issuing public 

25 reports under subsection (b)(2)(E)(x), the GovVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Dec 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6509.IH H6509

ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 6509 IH

1 erning Board shall approve the disclosure of de2 identified, non-public information by the VIS 

3 that the Governing Board determines is nec4 essary to adequately describe and illustrate the 

5 issues and topics being investigated and ana6 lyzed by the VIS. 

7 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), no person, including any VIS Governing 

9 Board member, the Program Manager, the Third10 Party Data Manager described in subsection (b)(4), 

11 an Issue Analysis Team member described in sub12 section (b)(5), or any Federal, State, local, or Tribal 

13 agency, having or obtaining access to non-public in14 formation by virtue of the acceptance of such infor15 mation to the VIS, shall release or communicate VIS 

16 held non-public information, in either an identified 

17 or de-identified form, to any person that does not 

18 have the authority to view VIS data. 

19 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY OF FOIA.—Any non-public in20 formation that is accepted by the VIS and which may be 

21 analyzed, stored, or managed by the VIS and subsequently 

22 obtained by the Secretary or the Administrator by virtue 

23 of the acceptance of such information to the VIS shall be 

24 exempt from the requirements of section 552 of title 5 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 6509 IH

1 and specifically exempt from release under subsection 

2 (b)(3) of such section. 

3 ‘‘(f) EXCLUSIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) EXCLUDED EVIDENCE.—Except as pro5 vided in paragraph (3), non-public information ac6 cepted by the VIS and which may be analyzed, 

7 stored, or managed by the VIS shall not be obtained 

8 from the VIS— 

9 ‘‘(A) for use as evidence for any purpose in 

10 any Federal, State, local, Tribal, or private liti11 gation, including any action or proceeding; or 

12 ‘‘(B) to initiate any enforcement action or 

13 civil litigation against a pipeline operator or 

14 employees or contractors of such operator relat15 ing to a probable violation under this chapter 

16 (including any regulation promulgated or order 

17 issued under this chapter). 

18 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION FROM DISCOVERY.—Except as 

19 provided in paragraph (3), non-public information 

20 accepted by the VIS and which may be analyzed, 

21 stored, or managed by the VIS shall not be subject 

22 to discovery from the VIS in any Federal, State, 

23 local, Tribal, or private litigation or other pro24 ceeding. 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 6509 IH

1 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIONS.—The ex2 clusions described in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall 

3 not apply to non-public information accepted by the 

4 VIS that is— 

5 ‘‘(A) evidence of a criminal violation; 

6 ‘‘(B) not related to the established purpose 

7 of the VIS described in subsection (a)(2); 

8 ‘‘(C) otherwise required to be reported to 

9 the Secretary under part 191 (including infor10 mation about an incident or accident), part 

11 192, part 194, part 195, or part 199 of title 

12 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 

13 regulations), or required to be reported under 

14 the requirements of a State authority; or 

15 ‘‘(D) developed or obtained from a source 

16 other than the VIS, including through discovery 

17 from a person or an entity other than the VIS 

18 in an enforcement action or private litigation. 

19 ‘‘(g) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—Nothing in this sec20 tion shall be construed to affect Federal, State, or local 

21 pipeline safety law. 

22 ‘‘(h) NO EFFECT ON DISCOVERY.— 

23 ‘‘(1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

24 this section or any rule, regulation, or amendment 

25 issued pursuant to this section shall be construed to 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 6509 IH

1 create a defense to a discovery request or otherwise 

2 limit or affect the discovery of pipeline safety data 

3 and information arising from a cause of action au4 thorized under any under Federal, State, or local 

5 law. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

7 apply to exclusions from discovery from the VIS as 

8 described in subsection (f)(2). 

9 ‘‘(i) EXPENSES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the VIS Gov11 erning Board and Issue Analysis Teams may be paid 

12 expenses under section 5703 of title 5. 

13 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A payment 

14 under this subsection shall not be construed to make 

15 a member of the VIS Governing Board an officer or 

16 employee of the Federal Government. 

17 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Paragraph (1) 

18 shall not apply to members of the VIS Governing 

19 Board that are employees of the Federal Govern20 ment. 

21 ‘‘(j) REPORT ON VIS.—Not later than 2 years after 

22 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra24 structure and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

25 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
17 

•HR 6509 IH

1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 

2 and make publicly available, a report that includes— 

3 ‘‘(1) a detailed accounting of the allocation and 

4 uses of expenditures authorized under this section; 

5 ‘‘(2) an estimate of the annual cost to maintain 

6 the VIS program, including an assessment and pro7 jection of costs associated with the Third-Party 

8 Data Manager, data sourcing and storage, data gov9 ernance, data architecture, data consumption, and 

10 the VIS operations and administration by the Pipe11 line and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; 

12 ‘‘(3) the methodology for determining the esti13 mate under paragraph (2); 

14 ‘‘(4) the number of expected participants in the 

15 VIS program; 

16 ‘‘(5) the number of Pipeline and Hazardous 

17 Materials Safety Administration positions needed to 

18 maintain the VIS program; 

19 ‘‘(6) the projected timeline for the implementa20 tion of the VIS program to meet the purposes under 

21 subsection (a)(2); and 

22 ‘‘(7) recommendations to ensure sufficient 

23 funding for the ongoing activities of the VIS pro24 gram, including a reasonable fee assessed on author25 ized participants in the VIS program. 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
18 

•HR 6509 IH

1 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated for the establishment 

3 of a voluntary information-sharing program under this 

4 section— 

5 ‘‘(1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

6 ‘‘(2) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

7 ‘‘(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and 

8 ‘‘(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2027.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap10 ter 601 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘60144.Voluntary information-sharing system.’’. 

Æ 


ssavage on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS