ators of pipeline facilities to demonstrate applications of
risk management. The purpose of the project shall be to
evaluate the safety and cost effectiveness of such applica-
tions.
‘‘(b) EXEMPTION.—During the period of the dem-
onstration project carried out under this section, the Sec-
retary may exempt owners and operators participating in
the project from compliance with some or all of the stand-
ards and regulatory requirements that would otherwise
apply to such owners and operators under this chapter. In
addition, the Secretary shall exempt such owners and oper-
ators from complying with standards and regulatory re-
quirements promulgated under this chapter during the pe-
riod of such participation with respect to facilities included
in the project.
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the demonstra-
tion project under this section, the Secretary shall—
‘‘(1) invite owners and operators of pipeline fa-
cilities to submit risk management plans for timely
approval by the Secretary;
‘‘(2) ensure that owners and operators imple-
menting approved risk management plans under the
project will achieve an equivalent or greater overall
level of safety than such owners and operators would
otherwise achieve by complying with the standards
and regulatory requirements of this chapter; and
‘‘(3) ensure that the project incorporates the fol-
lowing elements:
‘‘(A) collaborative training;
‘‘(B) methods to measure the performance of
risk management plans;
‘‘(C) development and application of new
technologies;
‘‘(D) promotion of community awareness;
‘‘(E) development of a model to categorize
the risks inherent to a selected pipeline facility,
considering the location, volume, pressure, and
material transported or stored by the facility;
‘‘(F) application of risk assessment and risk
management methodologies suitable to the inher-
ent risks determined to exist by the model devel-
oped under subparagraph (E);
‘‘(G) development of project elements needed
to ensure that owners and operators participat-
ing in the project demonstrate that risks are
being effectively managed and that risk manage-
ment plans carried out under the project can be
audited;
‘‘(H) a process for making amendments,
modifications, and adjustments to approved risk
management plans under the project as agreed to
by owners and operators carrying out such plans
and the Secretary; and
‘‘(I) such other elements as the Secretary
and owners and operators participating in the
project may agree would further the purposes of
this section.
‘‘(d) EMERGENCIES.—In the case of an emergency, the
Secretary may suspend or revoke the participation of an
owner or operator in the demonstration project carried out
under this section.
‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than March 31, 1999, the
Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report on the results
of the demonstration project carried out under this section
together with an evaluation of the project and recommenda-
tions on whether or not the applications demonstrated
under the project should be made a permanent part of the
Federal pipeline safety program.’’.
SEC. 7. INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE.
Section 60108 is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘transport-
ing gas or hazardous liquid or’’ each place it appears;
(2) in subsection (b)(2) by striking the second
sentence;
(3) in the heading to subsection (c) by striking
‘‘NAVIGABLE WATERS’’ and inserting ‘‘OTHER WA-
TERS’’; and
(4) by striking clause (ii) of subsection (c)(2)(A)
and inserting the following:
‘‘(ii) any other pipeline facility crossing under,
over, or through waters where a substantial likelihood
of commercial navigation exists if the Secretary de-
cides that the location of the facility in those waters
could pose a hazard to navigation or public safety.’’.
SEC. 8. HIGH-DENSITY POPULATION AREAS AND ENVIRON-
MENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS.
(a) IDENTIFICATION.—Section 60109(a)(1)(B)(i) is
amended by striking ‘‘a navigable waterway (as the Sec-
retary defines by regulation)’’ and inserting ‘‘waters where
a substantial likelihood of commercial navigation exists’’.
(b) UNUSUALLY SENSITIVE AREAS.—Section 60109(b)
is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(1) intake locations for community water sys-
tems;’’.
SEC. 9. EXCESS FLOW VALUES.
Section 60110 is amended—