I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6295 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to enhance pipeline safety, to provide 

communities with access to improved information concerning the equipment and operations of pipeline facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. RICHARDSON, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 

SCHAUER, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr. STARK, 

Ms. CHU, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. FARR, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. 

SLAUGHTER, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) 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 enhance pipeline 

safety, to provide communities with access to improved 

information concerning the equipment and operations of 

pipeline facilities, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Pipeline Safety and Community Empowerment Act of 

4 2010’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. References to title 49, United States Code. 

Sec. 3. Notice to property owners and residents. 

Sec. 4. Facility operation information standards. 

Sec. 5. Required periodic inspection of pipelines by instrumented internal inspection devices. 

Sec. 6. Automatic or remote shut off valves. 

Sec. 7. Availability of industry standards and procedures adopted in regulations 

by reference. 

Sec. 8. Leak detection. 

Sec. 9. Considerations for identification of high consequence areas. 

Sec. 10. Public education programs. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

9 of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 

10 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 

11 a section or other provision of title 49, United States 

12 Code. 

13 SEC. 3. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS AND RESIDENTS. 

14 Section 60102(c)(4) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS AND RESI17 DENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one 

19 year after the date of enactment of this sub20 paragraph, the Secretary shall prescribe minVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:51 Oct 09, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6295.IH H6295

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1 imum standards to require the owner or oper2 ator of a pipeline facility to notify all owners 

3 and residents of property located within 2,000 

4 feet of a transmission line of the facility of— 

5 ‘‘(I) the proximity of the property to 

6 the transmission line; and 

7 ‘‘(II) in the case of a transmission 

8 line located on private residential property, 

9 the specific location of the line on the 

10 property. 

11 ‘‘(ii) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The no12 tice under clause (i) shall include, at a min13 imum— 

14 ‘‘(I) a method for electronic access to 

15 the information described in clause (i) 

16 through an Internet Web site and toll free 

17 telephone number; 

18 ‘‘(II) information on how to obtain a 

19 map of the pipeline system through the 

20 National Pipeline Mapping System; and 

21 ‘‘(III) such other information as the 

22 Secretary considers appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(iii) DEADLINES.—The notice under 

24 clause (i) shall be provided not later than 2 

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1 paragraph and at least once every 3 years 

2 thereafter.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. FACILITY OPERATION INFORMATION STANDARDS. 

4 Section 60102(d) is amended by striking the first 

5 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘Not later than one 

6 year after the date of enactment of the Pipeline Safety 

7 and Community Empowerment Act of 2010, the Secretary 

8 shall prescribe minimum standards under this section re9 quiring an operator of a pipeline facility subject to this 

10 chapter to maintain information related to operating the 

11 facility as required by the standards prescribed under this 

12 chapter and to provide that information, including any up13 dates and changes, to the Secretary, State regulatory offi14 cials, State and local emergency responders, and such 

15 other entities as the Secretary considers appropriate (ex16 cept that in the case of a local emergency responder the 

17 Secretary shall provide the information described in para18 graphs (1), (2), (5), and (6) only to the extent applicable 

19 to the local district). The Secretary shall keep on file the 

20 information submitted to the Secretary under the pre21 ceding sentence.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. REQUIRED PERIODIC INSPECTION OF PIPELINES 

23 BY INSTRUMENTED INTERNAL INSPECTION 

24 DEVICES. 

25 Section 60102(f)(2) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(2) PERIODIC INSPECTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

3 days after the date of enactment of the Pipeline 

4 Safety and Community Empowerment Act of 

5 2010, the Secretary shall prescribe additional 

6 standards requiring the periodic inspection of 

7 each pipeline the operator of the pipeline identi8 fies under section 60109. 

9 ‘‘(B) INSPECTION WITH INTERNAL INSPEC10 TION DEVICE.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro12 vided in clause (ii), the standards pre13 scribed under subparagraph (A) shall re14 quire that an inspection be conducted at 

15 least once every 5 years with an instru16 mented internal inspection device. 

17 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR SEGMENTS

18 WHERE DEVICES CANNOT BE USED.—If a 

19 device described in clause (i) cannot be 

20 used in a segment of a pipeline, the stand21 ards prescribed in subparagraph (A) shall 

22 require use of an inspection method that 

23 the Secretary certifies to be at least as ef24 fective as using the device in— 

25 ‘‘(I) detecting corrosion; 


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1 ‘‘(II) detecting pipe stress; and 

2 ‘‘(III) otherwise providing for the 

3 safety of the pipeline. 

4 ‘‘(C) OPERATION UNDER HIGH PRES5 SURE.—The Secretary shall prohibit a pipeline 

6 segment from operating under high pressure if 

7 the pipeline segment cannot be inspected— 

8 ‘‘(i) with a device described in sub9 paragraph (B)(i) in accordance with the 

10 standards prescribed pursuant to such sub11 paragraph; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) using an inspection method de13 scribed in subparagraph (B)(ii) in accord14 ance with the standards prescribed pursu15 ant to such subparagraph.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. AUTOMATIC OR REMOTE SHUT OFF VALVES. 

17 Section 60102(j) is amended by adding at the end 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) AUTOMATIC OR REMOTE SHUT OFF VALVES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—Not later than 

21 one year after the date of enactment of this para22 graph, the Secretary shall prescribe minimum stand23 ards to require an owner or operator of a covered 

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1 mote shut off valves to reduce risks in the event of 

2 a rupture. 

3 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY OF MINIMUM STAND4 ARDS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) NEW FACILITIES.—The minimum 

6 standards shall apply to a covered pipeline facil7 ity that is newly constructed or entirely re8 placed after the date of issuance of the stand9 ards. 

10 ‘‘(ii) EXISTING FACILITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(I) FACILITIES LOCATED NEAR

12 EARTHQUAKE FAULTS.—The minimum 

13 standards shall apply to a covered pipeline 

14 facility that exists as of the date of 

15 issuance of the standards and is located 

16 within 10 miles of a significant earthquake 

17 fault beginning on the earliest date that 

18 the Secretary determines is technically fea19 sible and not later than 2 years after the 

20 date of issuance of the standards. 

21 ‘‘(II) OTHER FACILITIES.—The min22 imum standards shall apply to a covered 

23 pipeline facility that exists as of the date 

24 of issuance of the standards (other than a 

25 facility described in subclause (I)) not later 


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1 than 5 years after the date of issuance of 

2 the standards. 

3 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph, the fol4 lowing definitions apply: 

5 ‘‘(i) COVERED PIPELINE FACILITY.—The 

6 term ‘covered pipeline facility’ means a pipeline 

7 facility that is located in a Class 3 or 4 loca8 tion, as described in section 192.5 of title 49, 

9 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the 

10 date of enactment of the Pipeline Safety and 

11 Community Empowerment Act of 2010. 

12 ‘‘(ii) SIGNIFICANT EARTHQUAKE FAULT.— 

13 The term ‘significant earthquake fault’ means 

14 an earthquake fault for which there is a 1 in 10 

15 chance or greater of a magnitude 6.7 or greater 

16 earthquake in the next 50 years, as determined 

17 by the Secretary based on information compiled 

18 by the United States Geological Survey.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. AVAILABILITY OF INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND PRO20 CEDURES ADOPTED IN REGULATIONS BY 

21 REFERENCE. 

22 Section 60102 is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(n) AVAILABILITY OF INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND

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1 ERENCE.—The Secretary shall ensure that industry stand2 ards and procedures adopted by reference as part of the 

3 Federal pipeline safety regulatory program under this 

4 chapter are easily available to the public free of charge. 

5 This subsection shall apply to regulations issued before, 

6 on, or after the date of enactment of this subsection.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. LEAK DETECTION. 

8 Section 60102 (as amended by section 7 of this Act) 

9 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(o) LEAK DETECTION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An owner or operator of a 

12 pipeline facility shall ensure that the facility is 

13 equipped with a leak detection system capable of 

14 promptly detecting a leak. 

15 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—Not later 

16 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

17 subsection, the Secretary shall issue a final rule es18 tablishing performance standards for such leak de19 tection systems. In establishing the performance 

20 standards, the Secretary shall consider, at a min21 imum, requiring— 

22 ‘‘(A) hazardous liquid pipeline facilities to 

23 have the continuous capability to detect a daily 

24 discharge equal to not more than one percent of 

25 daily throughput; 


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1 ‘‘(B) natural gas transmission pipeline fa2 cilities to provide for flow verification through 

3 an accounting method such as volume balance 

4 and rate of pressure at least once every 24 

5 hours; 

6 ‘‘(C) in the case of a remote pipeline, in7 creased aerial surveillance of the pipeline; and 

8 ‘‘(D) owners and operators of pipeline fa9 cilities to meet other requirements as the Sec10 retary determines necessary and practicable to 

11 enhance the ability of such owners and opera12 tors to promptly detect a leak.’’. 

13 SEC. 9. CONSIDERATIONS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH 

14 CONSEQUENCE AREAS. 

15 Section 60109 is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(g) CONSIDERATIONS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF

18 HIGH CONSEQUENCE AREAS.—In identifying high con19 sequence areas under this section, the Secretary shall con20 sider— 

21 ‘‘(1) the seismicity of the area; 

22 ‘‘(2) the age of the pipe; and 

23 ‘‘(3) whether the pipe at issue can be inspected 

24 using the most modern instrumented internal inspec25 tion devices.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

2 Section 60116 is amended by adding at the end the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL PROCESS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ap6 prove or disapprove a public education program sub7 mitted to the Secretary by the owner or operator of 

8 a pipeline facility under subsection (b). 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTEXT OF REVIEW.—The Secretary 

10 may conduct the approval process under paragraph 

11 (1) as an element of the Secretary’s inspection of an 

12 owner or operator. 

13 ‘‘(3) INADEQUATE PROGRAMS.—If the Sec14 retary determines that a public education program 

15 does not comply with the requirements of this sec16 tion or regulations issued under this section or has 

17 not been adequately implemented, the Secretary may 

18 conduct proceedings under this chapter. 

19 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION PRO20 GRAMS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.—The Comptroller General 

22 shall conduct an assessment of the effectiveness of 

23 the public education programs carried out under this 

24 section. 

25 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

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1 section, the Comptroller General shall submit to 

2 Congress a report on the results of the assessment.’’. 

Æ 


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