I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8085 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transpor-
tation to carry out a pipeline safety enhancement program, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 21, 2020 
Mr. VEASEY (for himself, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. LATTA, and Mr. BALDERSON) 
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 direct the Sec-
retary of Transportation to carry out a pipeline safety 
enhancement program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pipeline Safety Pilot 
Program Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ADVANCEMENT OF NEW PIPELINE SAFETY TECH-
NOLOGIES AND APPROACHES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 601 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 60142. Pipeline safety enhancement programs 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
and carry out limited safety-enhancing testing programs 
during the period of fiscal years 2020 through 2026 to 
evaluate innovative technologies and operational practices 
testing the safe operation of— 
‘‘(1) a natural gas pipeline facility; or 
‘‘(2) a hazardous liquid pipeline facility. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Such testing programs may 
not exceed— 
‘‘(A) 5 percent of the total miles of haz-
ardous liquid pipelines in the United States; 
and 
‘‘(B) 5 percent of the total miles of natural 
gas pipelines in the United States. 
‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OPERATOR MILEAGE LIMITA-
TION.—The Secretary shall limit the mileage an in-
dividual operator can test under each program es-
tablished under subsection (a) to the lesser of— 
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‘‘(A) 50 percent of the total pipeline mile-
age in the operator’s system; or 
‘‘(B) 1,000 miles. 
‘‘(3) HIGH
POPULATION
AREAS; HIGH
CON-
SEQUENCE AREAS.—Any program established under 
subsection (a) shall not be located in a high popu-
lation area (as defined in section 195.450 of title 49, 
Code of Federal Regulations) or a high consequence 
area (as defined in section 192.903 of title 49, Code 
of Federal Regulations). 
‘‘(4) UNUSUALLY SENSITIVE AREAS.—Any pro-
gram established under subsection (a) shall not be 
located in an unusually sensitive area (as described 
in section 60109(b)). 
‘‘(5) HIGH
CONSEQUENCE
AREAS
FOR
HAZ-
ARDOUS LIQUID PIPELINES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
containing an examination of the benefits and 
costs of prohibiting testing in high consequence 
areas (as defined in section 195.450 of title 49, 
Code of Federal Regulations) for hazardous liq-
uid pipelines. 
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‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report 
described in subparagraph (A) shall examine 
the safety benefits of allowing testing for haz-
ardous liquid pipelines in high consequence 
areas and whether additional testing conditions 
are required to protect such areas while con-
ducting the program established under sub-
section (a) in such areas. 
‘‘(6) RESTRICTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
not approve a program under this section until 
the report required under paragraph (5) is sub-
mitted to Congress. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The limitation in sub-
paragraph (A) shall not apply if— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary determines that 
there is a need for a program under this 
section; and 
‘‘(ii) more than 1 year has passed 
since the date of enactment of this section. 
‘‘(c) DURATION.—The term of a testing program es-
tablished under subsection (a) shall be not more than a 
period of 4 years beginning on the date of approval of the 
program. 
‘‘(d) SAFETY STANDARDS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall re-
quire, as a condition of approval of a testing pro-
gram under subsection (a), that the safety measures 
in the testing program are designed to achieve a 
level of safety that is greater than, or equivalent to, 
the level of safety required by this chapter. 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
issue an order under subparagraph (A) of sec-
tion 60118(c)(1) to accomplish the purpose of 
a testing program for a term not to exceed the 
time period described in subsection (c) if the 
condition described in paragraph (1) is met, as 
determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—An order under sub-
paragraph (A) shall pertain only to those regu-
lations that would otherwise prevent the use of 
the safety technology to be tested under the 
testing program. 
‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing a testing 
program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall con-
sider— 
‘‘(1) the accident or incident record of the own-
ers or operators participating in the program; 
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‘‘(2) whether the owners or operators partici-
pating in the program have a safety management 
system in place and how the application for such 
program proposes to eliminate or mitigate any po-
tential safety risks; 
‘‘(3) a description of any measures or activities 
the owners or operators participating in the program 
propose to eliminate or mitigate any environmental 
risks; 
‘‘(4) a description of any previous testing and 
the outcome of such testing of the proposed safety 
technology through a research and development pro-
gram carried out by— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary; 
‘‘(B) collaborative research development 
organizations; or 
‘‘(C) other institutions; 
‘‘(5) whether there have been other testing pro-
grams granted under subsection (a) similar to the 
proposed safety technology and the outcome of such 
programs; and 
‘‘(6) whether the pipeline segments tested by 
the program could affect, or are outside of, high 
consequence areas (as defined in sections 192.903 
and 195.450 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula-
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tions) and unusually sensitive areas (as described in 
section 60109(b)). 
‘‘(f) MULTIPLE OPERATORS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may select 
up to 5 owners or operators to carry out a testing 
program under subsection (a) in a single application. 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—In selecting owners or 
operators under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
determine that each testing program proposed by 
such owners or operators— 
‘‘(A) meet the requirements of subsection 
(d)(1); 
‘‘(B) test a similar technology, best prac-
tice, or related set of technologies and best 
practices; and 
‘‘(C) provides appropriate testing condi-
tions for the technologies or practices being 
used. 
‘‘(3) AUTHORITY TO REVOKE PARTICIPATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an owner or oper-
ator participating in a program established 
under subsection (a), the Secretary may revoke 
permission to participate in such program if— 
‘‘(i) the owner or operator is involved 
in an accident or incident and the testing 
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program is determined to be the cause or 
a contributing factor of such accident or 
incident; or 
‘‘(ii) the Secretary determines revoca-
tion of permission is warranted for public 
safety reasons. 
‘‘(g) DATA AND FINDINGS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a participant in a test-
ing program established under subsection (a), an 
owner or operator shall submit to the Secretary de-
tailed findings and a summary of data collected as 
a result of participation in the testing program. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC
REPORT.—To the extent prac-
ticable, the Secretary shall make a yearly interim re-
port publicly available on the website of the Depart-
ment of Transportation for any ongoing testing pro-
gram established under subsection (a) summarizing 
the progress of such program. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORITY TO REVOKE PARTICIPATION.—The 
Secretary shall immediately revoke participation in a test-
ing program under subsection (a) if— 
‘‘(1) the participant has an accident or incident 
involving a death, or personal injury necessitating 
in-patient hospitalization and the testing program is 
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determined to be the cause or a contributing factor 
to such accident or incident; 
‘‘(2) the participant fails to comply with the 
terms and conditions of the testing program; or 
‘‘(3) in the determination of the Secretary, con-
tinued participation in the testing program by the 
participant would be unsafe. 
‘‘(i) AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE PROGRAM.—The 
Secretary shall immediately terminate a testing program 
under subsection (a) if continuation of the testing pro-
gram would not be consistent with the goals and objectives 
of this chapter. 
‘‘(j) STATE RIGHTS.— 
‘‘(1) EXEMPTION.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), if a State submits to the Secretary notice 
that the State requests an exemption from any test-
ing program considered for establishment under this 
section, the State shall be exempt. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
not grant a requested exemption under para-
graph (1) after a testing program is estab-
lished. 
‘‘(B) LATE NOTICE.—The Secretary shall 
not grant a requested exemption under para-
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graph (1) if the notice submitted under that 
paragraph is submitted to the Secretary more 
than 10 days after the date on which the Sec-
retary issues an order providing an effective 
date for the testing program. 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—A State shall be eligible to 
withdraw from a testing program if an owner or op-
erator conducting such testing program in such 
State has an incident involving a death, a personal 
injury necessitating in-patient hospitalization, or a 
reportable accident (within the meaning of sections 
195.50 and 191.3 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu-
lations), and the testing program is determined to be 
the cause or a contributing factor to such incident. 
‘‘(4) EFFECT.—If a State has not submitted a 
notice requesting an exemption under paragraph (1), 
the State shall not enforce any law (including regu-
lations) that is inconsistent with a testing program 
in effect in the State under this section. 
‘‘(k) PROGRAM REVIEW PROCESS AND PUBLIC NO-
TICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall publish 
in the Federal Register a notice of each testing pro-
gram under subsection (a), including the order to be 
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considered, and provide an opportunity for public 
comment for not less than 60 days. 
‘‘(2) COMMUNICATION WITH STATES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As part of carrying 
out the process described in paragraph (1), the 
Secretary shall individually notify, at the time 
described in paragraph (1), the relevant au-
thorities in the States such testing programs 
would be conducted in. 
‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION CONTENTS.—The no-
tification described in subparagraph (A) shall 
include a specific list of the laws or regulations 
that the State would not be allowed to enforce 
pursuant to subsection (j)(4) should such test-
ing program go into effect, and the ability of 
the State to request an exemption from the pro-
gram. 
‘‘(3) RESPONSE FROM SECRETARY.—Not later 
than the date on which the Secretary issues an order 
providing an effective date of a testing program no-
ticed under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall re-
spond to each comment submitted under that para-
graph. 
‘‘(l) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—At the conclusion of 
each testing program, the Secretary shall make publicly 
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available on the website of the Department of Transpor-
tation a report containing— 
‘‘(1) the findings and conclusions of the Sec-
retary with respect to the testing program; and 
‘‘(2) any recommendations of the Secretary 
with respect to the testing program, including any 
recommendations for amendments to laws (including 
regulations) and the establishment of standards, 
that— 
‘‘(A) would enhance the safe operation of 
interstate gas or hazardous liquid pipeline fa-
cilities; and 
‘‘(B) are technically, operationally, and 
economically feasible. 
‘‘(m) STANDARDS.—If a report under subsection (l) 
indicates that it is practicable to establish technically, 
operationally, and economically feasible standards for the 
use of a safety-enhancing technology and any cor-
responding operational practices tested by the testing pro-
gram described in the report, the Secretary, as soon as 
practicable after submission of the report, may promulgate 
regulations consistent with chapter 5 of title 5 (commonly 
known as the ‘Administrative Procedures Act’) that— 
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