H. R. 2845 
One Hundred Twelfth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 
the fifth day of January, two thousand and eleven 
An Act 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for enhanced safety and environ-
mental protection in pipeline transportation, to provide for enhanced reliability 
in the transportation of the Nation’s energy products by pipeline, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES 
CODE; DEFINITIONS; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pipeline Safety, 
Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011’’. 
(b) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.—Except 
as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or 
a repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be 
considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 49, 
United States Code. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER 601 DEFINITIONS.—In this 
Act, any term defined in chapter 601 of title 49, United States 
Code, has the meaning given that term in that chapter. 
(2) HIGH-CONSEQUENCE AREA.—In this Act, the term ‘‘high- 
consequence area’’ means an area described in section 60109(a) 
of title 49, United States Code. 
(d) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this Act 
is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; amendment of title 49, United States Code; definitions; table of 
contents. 
Sec. 2. Civil penalties. 
Sec. 3. Pipeline damage prevention. 
Sec. 4. Automatic and remote-controlled shut-off valves. 
Sec. 5. Integrity management. 
Sec. 6. Public education and awareness. 
Sec. 7. Cast iron gas pipelines. 
Sec. 8. Leak detection. 
Sec. 9. Accident and incident notification. 
Sec. 10. Transportation-related onshore facility response plan compliance. 
Sec. 11. Pipeline infrastructure data collection. 
Sec. 12. Transportation-related oil flow lines. 
Sec. 13. Cost recovery for design reviews. 
Sec. 14. Biofuel pipelines. 
Sec. 15. Carbon dioxide pipelines. 
Sec. 16. Study of transportation of diluted bitumen. 
Sec. 17. Study of nonpetroleum hazardous liquids transported by pipeline. 
Sec. 18. Clarifications. 
Sec. 19. Maintenance of effort. 
Sec. 20. Administrative enforcement process. 
Sec. 21. Gas and hazardous liquid gathering lines.
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Sec. 22. Excess flow valves. 
Sec. 23. Maximum allowable operating pressure. 
Sec. 24. Limitation on incorporation of documents by reference. 
Sec. 25. Pipeline safety training for State and local government personnel. 
Sec. 26. Report on minority-owned, woman-owned, and disadvantaged businesses. 
Sec. 27. Report on pipeline projects. 
Sec. 28. Cover over buried pipelines. 
Sec. 29. Seismicity. 
Sec. 30. Tribal consultation for pipeline projects. 
Sec. 31. Pipeline inspection and enforcement needs. 
Sec. 32. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. CIVIL PENALTIES. 
(a) GENERAL PENALTIES; PENALTY CONSIDERATIONS.—Section 
60122 is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 
(A) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$200,000’’; and 
(B) in the last sentence by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$2,000,000’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)(B) by striking ‘‘the ability to pay,’’. 
(b) 
OPERATOR
ASSISTANCE
IN
INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 
60118(e) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) OPERATOR ASSISTANCE IN INVESTIGATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE
AND
ACCESS.—If the Secretary or the 
National Transportation Safety Board investigates an accident 
or incident involving a pipeline facility, the operator of the 
facility shall— 
‘‘(A) make available to the Secretary or the Board 
all records and information that in any way pertain to 
the accident or incident, including integrity management 
plans and test results; and 
‘‘(B) afford all reasonable assistance in the investiga-
tion of the accident or incident. 
‘‘(2) OPERATOR ASSISTANCE IN INVESTIGATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may impose a civil 
penalty under section 60122 on a person who obstructs 
or prevents the Secretary from carrying out inspections 
or investigations under this chapter. 
‘‘(B) OBSTRUCTS DEFINED.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—In this paragraph, the term 
‘obstructs’ includes actions that were known, or reason-
ably should have been known, to prevent, hinder, or 
impede an investigation without good cause. 
‘‘(ii) GOOD CAUSE.—In clause (i), the term ‘good 
cause’ may include actions such as restricting access 
to facilities that are not secure or safe for nonpipeline 
personnel or visitors.’’. 
(c) ADMINISTRATIVE
PENALTY
CAPS
INAPPLICABLE.—Section 
60120(a)(1) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 
maximum amount of civil penalties for administrative enforcement 
actions under section 60122 shall not apply to enforcement actions 
under this section.’’. 
(d) JUDICIAL
REVIEW
OF
ADMINISTRATIVE
ENFORCEMENT 
ORDERS.—Section 60119(a) is amended— 
(1) in the subsection heading by striking ‘‘AND WAIVER 
ORDERS’’ and inserting ‘‘, ORDERS, AND OTHER FINAL AGENCY 
ACTIONS’’; and
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(2) by striking ‘‘about an application for a waiver under 
section 60118(c) or (d) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘under this 
chapter’’. 
SEC. 3. PIPELINE DAMAGE PREVENTION. 
(a) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR STATE ONE-CALL NOTIFICATION 
PROGRAMS.—Section 6103(a) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) MINIMUM STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to qualify for a grant under 
section 6106, a State one-call notification program, at a min-
imum, shall provide for— 
‘‘(A) appropriate participation by all underground 
facility operators, including all government operators; 
‘‘(B) appropriate participation by all excavators, 
including all government and contract excavators; and 
‘‘(C) flexible and effective enforcement under State law 
with respect to participation in, and use of, one-call notifica-
tion systems. 
‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS PROHIBITED.—In order to qualify for a 
grant under section 6106, a State one-call notification program 
may not exempt municipalities, State agencies, or their contrac-
tors from the one-call notification system requirements of the 
program.’’. 
(b) STATE DAMAGE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—Section 60134(a) 
is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (2)(B) by striking ‘‘(b).’’ and inserting 
‘‘(b); and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) does not provide any exemptions to municipalities, 
State agencies, or their contractors from the one-call notification 
system requirements of the program.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section 
shall take effect 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(d) EXCAVATION DAMAGE.— 
(1) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall conduct 
a study on the impact of excavation damage on pipeline safety. 
(2) CONTENTS.—The study shall include— 
(A) an analysis of the frequency and severity of dif-
ferent types of excavation damage incidents; 
(B) an analysis of exemptions to the one-call notifica-
tion system requirements in each State; 
(C) a comparison of exemptions to the one-call notifica-
tion system requirements in each State to the types of 
excavation damage incidents in that State; and 
(D) an analysis of the potential safety benefits and 
adverse consequences of eliminating all exemptions for 
mechanized excavation from State one-call notification sys-
tems. 
(3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
the Senate a report on the results of the study. 
SEC. 4. AUTOMATIC AND REMOTE-CONTROLLED SHUT-OFF VALVES. 
Section 60102 is amended—