I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5078 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on the economic and environmental risks to the Great Lakes of spills or leaks 

of oil, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2016 

Mrs. MILLER of Michigan (for herself, Mr. BENISHEK, Mrs. DINGELL, and 

Mr. TROTT) 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 require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a 

study on the economic and environmental risks to the 

Great Lakes of spills or leaks of oil, 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 ‘‘Great Lakes Pipeline 

5 Safety Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the Great Lakes are an invaluable national 

4 resource, containing one-fifth of the world’s fresh 

5 surface water and 95 percent of the United States 

6 freshwater supply; 

7 (2) over 40,000,000 people depend on the Great 

8 Lakes for fresh drinking water; 

9 (3) the Great Lakes provide 56,000,000,000 

10 gallons of water per day for municipal, agricultural 

11 and industrial use; 

12 (4) there are more than 3,500 species of plants 

13 and animals within the Great Lakes ecosystem; 

14 (5) hundreds of thousands of jobs, tied to the 

15 $7,000,000,000 recreational fishing and 

16 $16,000,000,000 recreational boating industries, di17 rectly depend on the Great Lakes; 

18 (6) currently, several million gallons per day of 

19 hazardous liquids are transported by pipeline across 

20 various points along the Great Lakes; 

21 (7) modeling studies by the University of Michi22 gan in 2014 and 2016 have concluded that an oil 

23 spill originating from a pipeline under the Straits of 

24 Mackinac would present particularly severe con25 sequences, potentially impacting over 700 miles of 

26 Great Lakes shoreline; 


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1 (8) a joint NOAA–U.S. Coast Guard guidebook 

2 on oil spill response planning in marine environ3 ments states that, during the first 24 to 48 hours 

4 of open water exposure, most oil spills become dif5 ficult to recover, burn, or chemically disperse; 

6 (9) swift currents beneath the straits and wa7 terways which connect the Great Lakes could rapidly 

8 disperse oil spill contaminants following a pipeline 

9 breach; 

10 (10) certain pipelines on the Great Lakes are 

11 located in close proximity to municipal drinking 

12 water collection intakes for millions of people; and 

13 (11) the United States should seek to protect 

14 the Great Lakes, as a unique national asset, from 

15 unreasonable risk of environmental and economic 

16 harm. 

17 SEC. 3. STUDY ON ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS 

18 TO THE GREAT LAKES. 

19 (a) STUDY.—Notwithstanding a pipeline integrity 

20 management program, integrity management assessment 

21 schedule, or considerations by the Secretary of Transpor22 tation resulting in a corrective action order pursuant to 

23 section 60112 of title 49, United States Code, not later 

24 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

25 the Secretary shall, in consultation with the United States 


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1 Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 

2 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and other agen3 cies as appropriate, conduct a study to determine the eco4 nomic and environmental risks to the Great Lakes of spills 

5 or leaks of oil or other hazardous liquids in the Straits 

6 of Mackinac from a rupture, breakage, or other failure of 

7 onshore, underwater pipeline facilities within the Straits. 

8 (b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub9 section (a) shall— 

10 (1) meet the content requirements of an envi11 ronmental impact statement as described in part 

12 1502 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations; 

13 (2) describe the potential impacts of such spills 

14 or leaks to the public health or welfare, wildlife pop15 ulations, ecosystems, shorelines, public and private 

16 property, economic activity, and water quality in the 

17 Great Lakes and connecting waterways; 

18 (3) include an assessment of spill responses in 

19 a variety of likely and worst-case spill scenarios in 

20 those waters; and 

21 (4) include the supplemental study conducted 

22 under subsection (c). 

23 (c) SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY.—The Secretary of 

24 Transportation shall conduct, in collaboration with pipe25 line facility operators and any necessary agencies, a supVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 May 04, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5078.IH H5078

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1 plemental study to evaluate the condition and structural 

2 integrity of onshore, underwater pipeline facilities in the 

3 Straits of Mackinac, taking into consideration the age, 

4 construction materials, external and internal corrosion, 

5 weld integrity, pressure, underwater currents, possible ex6 ternal damage caused by anchor strikes or dragging by 

7 recreational or cargo vessels, and the presence of in-line 

8 shutoff valves. Such supplemental study shall utilize both 

9 internal inspection technology and pipeline route surveys, 

10 depth of cover surveys, pressure tests, external corrosion 

11 direct assessment, or other technology that the operator 

12 demonstrates can further the understanding of the condi13 tion of the pipeline facility. 

14 (d) TERMINATION OF OPERATION.—Not later than 

15 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

16 Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

17 Safety Administration shall terminate the operations of an 

18 onshore, underwater pipeline facility located in the Straits 

19 of Mackinac if the Administrator determines that, based 

20 on the studies conducted under subsections (a) and (c), 

21 such facility poses a sufficient risk of hazard to life, prop22 erty, or the environment to necessitate the termination. 

Æ 


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