H. R. 1758—567
(1) establish an adequate program for record maintenance,
reporting, and inspection designed to assist compliance with
applicable safety standards prescribed under this chapter; and
(2) prescribe procedures for approval of plans of inspection
and maintenance substantially the same as required under
section 60108 (a) and (b) of this title.
(b) NOTIFICATION.—Each agreement shall require the State
authority to notify the Secretary promptly of a violation or probable
violation of an applicable safety standard discovered as a result
of action taken in carrying out an agreement under this section.
(c) MONITORING.—The Secretary may monitor a safety program
established under this section to ensure that the program complies
with the agreement. A State authority shall cooperate with the
Secretary under this subsection.
(d) ENDING AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may end an agree-
ment made under this section when the Secretary finds that the
State authority has not complied with any provision of the agree-
ment. The Secretary shall give the authority notice and an oppor-
tunity for a hearing before ending an agreement. The finding and
decision to end the agreement shall be published in the Federal
Register and may not become effective for at least 15 days after
the date of publication.
§ 60107. State grants
(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—If a State authority files an applica-
tion not later than September 30 of a calendar year, the Secretary
of Transportation shall pay not more than 50 percent of the cost
of the personnel, equipment, and activities the authority reasonably
requires during the next calendar year—
(1) to carry out a safety program under a certification
under section 60105 of this title or an agreement under section
60106 of this title; or
(2) to act as an agent of the Secretary on interstate gas
pipeline facilities or interstate hazardous liquid pipeline facili-
ties.
(b) PAYMENTS.—After notifying and consulting with a State
authority, the Secretary may withhold any part of a payment when
the Secretary decides that the authority is not carrying out satisfac-
torily a safety program or not acting satisfactorily as an agent.
The Secretary may pay an authority under this section only when
the authority ensures the Secretary that it will provide the remain-
ing costs of a safety program and that the total State amount
spent for a safety program (excluding grants of the United States
Government) will at least equal the average amount spent—
(1) for a gas safety program, for the fiscal years that
ended June 30, 1967, and June 30, 1968; and
(2) for a hazardous liquid safety program, for the fiscal
years that ended September 30, 1978, and September 30, 1979.
(c) APPORTIONMENT AND METHOD OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary
shall apportion the amount appropriated to carry out this section
among the States. A payment may be made under this section
in installments, in advance, or on a reimbursable basis.
(d) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY AND CONSIDERATIONS.—(1) The Sec-
retary may prescribe—
(A) the form of, and way of filing, an application under
this section;
H. R. 1758—568
(B) reporting and fiscal procedures the Secretary considers
necessary to ensure the proper accounting of money of the
Government; and
(C) qualifications for a State to meet to receive a payment
under this section, including qualifications for State employees
who perform inspection activities under section 60105 or 60106
of this title.
(2) The qualifications prescribed under paragraph (1)(C) of this
subsection may—
(A) consider the experience and training of the employee;
(B) order training or other requirements; and
(C) provide for approval of qualifications on a conditional
basis until specified requirements are met.
§ 60108. Inspection and maintenance
(a) PLANS.—(1) Each person transporting gas or hazardous
liquid or owning or operating an intrastate gas pipeline facility
or hazardous liquid pipeline facility shall carry out a current written
plan (including any changes) for inspection and maintenance of
each facility used in the transportation and owned or operated
by the person. A copy of the plan shall be kept at any office
of the person the Secretary of Transportation considers appropriate.
The Secretary also may require a person transporting gas or hazard-
ous liquid or owning or operating a pipeline facility subject to
this chapter to file a plan for inspection and maintenance for
approval.
(2) If the Secretary or a State authority responsible for enforcing
standards prescribed under this chapter decides that a plan
required under paragraph (1) of this subsection is inadequate for
safe operation, the Secretary or authority shall require the person
to revise the plan. Revision may be required only after giving
notice and an opportunity for a hearing. A plan required under
paragraph (1) must be practicable and designed to meet the need
for pipeline safety and must include terms designed to enhance
the ability to discover safety-related conditions described in section
60102(h)(1) of this title. In deciding on the adequacy of a plan,
the Secretary or authority shall consider—
(A) relevant available pipeline safety information;
(B) the appropriateness of the plan for the particular kind
of pipeline transportation or facility;
(C) the reasonableness of the plan; and
(D) the extent to which the plan will contribute to public
safety and the protection of the environment.
(3) A plan required under this subsection shall be made avail-
able to the Secretary or State authority on request under section
60117 of this title.
(b) INSPECTION AND TESTING.—(1) The Secretary shall inspect
and require appropriate testing of a pipeline facility subject to
this chapter that is not covered by a certification under section
60105 of this title or an agreement under section 60106 of this
title. The Secretary shall decide on the frequency and type of
inspection and testing under this subsection on a case-by-case basis
after considering the following:
(A) the location of the pipeline facility.
(B) the type, size, age, manufacturer, method of construc-
tion, and condition of the pipeline facility.
H. R. 1758—569
(C) the nature and volume of material transported through
the pipeline facility.
(D) the pressure at which that material is transported.
(E) climatic, geologic, and seismic characteristics (including
soil characteristics) and conditions of the area in which the
pipeline facility is located.
(F) existing and projected population and demographic
characteristics of the area in which the pipeline facility is
located.
(G) for a hazardous liquid pipeline facility, the proximity
of the area in which the facility is located to an area that
is unusually sensitive to environmental damage.
(H) the frequency of leaks.
(I) other factors the Secretary decides are relevant to the
safety of pipeline facilities.
(2) To the extent and in amounts provided in advance in an
appropriation law, the Secretary shall decide on the frequency
of inspection under paragraph (1) of this subsection. However, an
inspection must occur at least once every 2 years. The Secretary
may reduce the frequency of an inspection of a master meter system.
(3) Testing under this subsection shall use the most appropriate
technology practicable.
(c) 
PIPELINE
FACILITIES
OFFSHORE
AND
IN
NAVIGABLE
WATERS.—(1) In this subsection—
(A) ‘‘abandoned’’ means permanently removed from service.
(B) ‘‘pipeline facility’’ includes an underwater abandoned
pipeline facility.
(C) if a pipeline facility has no operator, the most recent
operator of the facility is deemed to be the operator of the
facility.
(2)(A) Not later than May 16, 1993, on the basis of experience
with the inspections under section 3(h)(1)(A) of the Natural Gas
Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or section 203(l )(1)(A) of the Hazardous
Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, as appropriate, and any other
information available to the Secretary, the Secretary shall establish
a mandatory, systematic, and, where appropriate, periodic inspec-
tion program of—
(i) all offshore pipeline facilities; and
(ii) any other pipeline facility crossing under, over, or
through navigable waters (as defined by the Secretary) if the
Secretary decides that the location of the facility in those navi-
gable waters could pose a hazard to navigation or public safety.
(B) In prescribing regulations to carry out subparagraph (A)
of this paragraph—
(i) the Secretary shall identify what is a hazard to naviga-
tion with respect to an underwater abandoned pipeline facility;
and
(ii) for an underwater pipeline facility abandoned after
October 24, 1992, the Secretary shall include requirements
that will lessen the potential that the facility will pose a hazard
to navigation and shall consider the relationship between water
depth and navigational safety and factors relevant to the local
marine environment.
(3)(A) The Secretary shall establish by regulation a program
requiring an operator of a pipeline facility described in paragraph
(2) of this subsection to report a potential or existing navigational
H. R. 1758—570
hazard involving that pipeline facility to the Secretary through
the appropriate Coast Guard office.
(B) The operator of a pipeline facility described in paragraph
(2) of this subsection that discovers any part of the pipeline facility
that is a hazard to navigation shall mark the location of the hazard-
ous part with a Coast-Guard-approved marine buoy or marker
and immediately shall notify the Secretary as provided by the
Secretary under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. A marine
buoy or marker used under this subparagraph is deemed a pipeline
sign or right-of-way marker under section 60123(c) of this title.
(4)(A) The Secretary shall require by regulation that each pipe-
line facility described in paragraph (2) of this subsection that is
a hazard to navigation is buried not later than 6 months after
the date the condition of the facility is reported to the Secretary.
The Secretary may extend that 6-month period for a reasonable
period to ensure compliance with this paragraph.
(B) In prescribing regulations for subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph for an underwater pipeline facility abandoned after Octo-
ber 24, 1992, the Secretary shall include requirements that will
lessen the potential that the facility will pose a hazard to navigation
and shall consider the relationship between water depth and naviga-
tional safety and factors relevant to the local marine environment.
(5)(A) Not later than October 24, 1994, the Secretary shall
establish standards on what is an exposed offshore pipeline facility
and what is a hazard to navigation under this subsection.
(B) Not later than 6 months after the Secretary establishes
standards under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, or October
24, 1995, whichever occurs first, the operator of each offshore pipe-
line facility not described in section 3(h)(1)(A) of the Natural Gas
Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or section 203(l )(1)(A) of the Hazardous
Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979, as appropriate, shall inspect
the facility and report to the Secretary on any part of the facility
that is exposed or is a hazard to navigation. This subparagraph
applies only to a facility that is between the high water mark
and the point at which the subsurface is under 15 feet of water,
as measured from mean low water. An inspection that occurred
after October 3, 1989, may be used for compliance with this subpara-
graph if the inspection conforms to the requirements of this
subparagraph.
(C) The Secretary may extend the time period specified in
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph for not more than 6 months
if the operator of a facility satisfies the Secretary that the operator
has made a good faith effort, with reasonable diligence, but has
been unable to comply by the end of that period.
(6)(A) The operator of a pipeline facility abandoned after Octo-
ber 24, 1992, shall report the abandonment to the Secretary in
a way that specifies whether the facility has been abandoned prop-
erly according to applicable United States Government and State
requirements.
(B) Not later than October 24, 1995, the operator of a pipeline
facility abandoned before October 24, 1992, shall report to the
Secretary reasonably available information related to the facility,
including information that a third party possesses. The information
shall include the location, size, date, and method of abandonment,
whether the facility has been abandoned properly under applicable
law, and other relevant information the Secretary may require.
Not later than April 24, 1994, the Secretary shall specify how