I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4338 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2014 

Mr. RANGEL (for himself and Ms. NORTON) 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 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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPLACEMENT PROGRAMS FOR HIGH-RISK NAT2 URAL GAS PIPELINES. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

4 (1) Federal requirements related to repairing 

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

6 which are leaks that represent an existing or prob7 able hazard to persons or property and require im8 mediate repair; 

9 (2) there are no Federal requirements to ad10 dress slower or less hazardous leaks, which can allow 

11 the leaks to persist unrepaired indefinitely; 

12 (3) in States without a standard definition and 

13 methodology for calculating unaccounted-for gas (the 

14 difference between the amount of gas purchased by 

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

16 data inconsistencies may be pervasive and these in17 consistencies hinder the ability of regulators to mon18 itor gas system and utility performance; 

19 (4) the cost of leaked or otherwise unaccounted20 for natural gas in the distribution system is typically 

21 passed on to ratepayers without limitation as an ac22 cepted cost of service, which removes financial incen23 tive for utilities to minimize the leaks; 

24 (5) methane, the primary constituent of natural 

25 gas, is a greenhouse gas at least 20 times more po26 tent than carbon dioxide; 


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1 (6) according to the Pipeline and Hazardous 

2 Materials Safety Administration, the United States 

3 natural gas distribution system still includes 61,000 

4 miles of bare steel pipe without adequate corrosion 

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

6 was installed beginning in the 1830s and can be 

7 prone to failure; 

8 (7) major recent pipeline explosions that led to 

9 human fatalities, including those in Austin, Texas, 

10 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Allentown, Pennsyl11 vania, have been traced to aging, leaking, and high12 risk pipeline infrastructure; 

13 (8) natural gas distribution utilities may be dis14 couraged from making capital expenditures for the 

15 replacement of leaking and failure-prone pipelines 

16 because traditional ratemaking structures may not 

17 allow for cost recovery on a timely basis; and 

18 (9) according to the Pipeline and Hazardous 

19 Materials Safety Administration, the natural gas 

20 pipeline replacement programs established as part of 

21 the ratemaking process in 27 States and the District 

22 of Columbia have played a vital role in enhancing 

23 public safety by better ensuring the prompt rehabili24 tation, repair, or replacement of high-risk natural 

25 gas distribution infrastructure. 


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1 (b) NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES.— 

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

3 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

4 section 60112 the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 60112A. Replacement programs for high-risk nat6 ural gas pipelines 

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

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

9 ‘‘(1) a distribution facility; and 

10 ‘‘(2) a gas utility. 

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

12 facility shall, in accordance with an integrity management 

13 program required under section 60109 of this title, if ap14 plicable, accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and replace15 ment of gas piping or equipment that— 

16 ‘‘(1) is leaking; or 

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

18 longer be fit for service, because of— 

19 ‘‘(A) inferior materials; 

20 ‘‘(B) poor construction practices; 

21 ‘‘(C) lack of maintenance; or 

22 ‘‘(D) age. 

23 ‘‘(c) POLICY OPTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In complying with sub2 section (b), each State regulatory authority and each 

3 nonregulated gas utility shall consider— 

4 ‘‘(A) developing prioritized timelines to re5 pair all leaks based on the severity of the leak, 

6 including non-hazardous leaks, or replace iden7 tified leaking or high-risk piping or equipment, 

8 including leaks identified as part of an integrity 

9 management plan developed under section 

10 192.1007 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula11 tions, if applicable; 

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

13 that includes— 

14 ‘‘(i) replacement plans with targets 

15 and benchmarks for leaking or high-risk 

16 infrastructure replacement; 

17 ‘‘(ii) consideration of the economic, 

18 safety, and environmental benefits of re19 duced gas leakage, including consideration 

20 of reduced operation and maintenance 

21 costs and reduced costs attributable to lost 

22 or unaccounted-for natural gas; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) reporting on the reductions in 

24 lost or unaccounted-for gas as a result of 

25 pipeline replacements; 


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1 ‘‘(C) adopting a standard definition and 

2 methodology for calculating and reporting unac3 counted-for gas to improve data quality; 

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

5 lost and unaccounted-for gas; and 

6 ‘‘(E) requiring use of best available tech7 nology to detect gas leaks.’’. 

8 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND9 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 601 of 

10 title 49, United States Code, is amended by insert11 ing after the item relating to section 60112 the fol12 lowing: 

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

13 (c) NON-BINDING GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING

14 AND CLASSIFYING HIGH-RISK PIPELINE INFRASTRUC15 TURE.— 

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

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

18 of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Ad19 ministration shall, after consultation with State reg20 ulatory authorities, the Secretary of Energy, the Ad21 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

22 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and 

23 other appropriate Federal agencies, and after notice 

24 and opportunity for comment, issue non-binding 

25 guidelines identifying best practices under section 


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1 60112A of title 49, United States Code (as added by 

2 subsection (b)). 

3 (2) PRESERVING THE INTEGRITY OF ACTIONS

4 ALREADY TAKEN BY STATE REGULATORY AUTHORI5 TIES.—In formulating guidelines under paragraph 

6 (1), the Administrator of the Pipeline and Haz7 ardous Materials Safety Administration shall, to the 

8 extent practicable, preserve the integrity of, and be 

9 guided by, actions already taken by State regulatory 

10 authorities to ensure proper identification, classifica11 tion, and timely repair of high-risk pipeline infra12 structure and leaks, including actions taken after 

13 consideration of the standard under section 

14 303(b)(6) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

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

16 (3) REVISION OF GUIDELINES.—Not less fre17 quently than once every 7 years, the Administrator 

18 of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Ad19 ministration shall review and, as appropriate, revise 

20 the guidelines issued under paragraph (1) to reflect 

21 changes in the composition and safety performance 

22 of the pipeline infrastructure in the United States. 

23 SEC. 3. DATA STANDARDIZATION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of law, not later than 1 year after the date of enactVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:35 Mar 31, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4338.IH H4338

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1 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Pipeline and 

2 Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the heads 

3 of other applicable Federal agencies shall, in consultation 

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

5 jointly to establish and publish forms that adopt a stand6 ard definition and methodology for calculating and report7 ing unaccounted-for gas, including, when possible, infor8 mation on the causes of unaccounted-for gas and the 

9 quantities associated with each cause, for use by applicable 

10 Federal agencies to standardize the data collected on un11 accounted-for gas. 

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

13 the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Mate14 rials Safety Administration and the heads of other applica15 ble Federal agencies may— 

16 (1) establish an interagency working group; and 

17 (2) enter into a memorandum of understanding. 

18 (c) CONSULTATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL AGEN19 CIES.—The Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous 

20 Materials Safety Administration and the heads of other 

21 applicable Federal agencies shall offer to work with State 

22 and local regulatory authorities to adopt a standard defini23 tion and methodology for calculating and reporting unacVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:35 Mar 31, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4338.IH H4338

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1 counted-for gas to standardize the data collected by Fed2 eral, State, and local governments. 

Æ 


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