I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2845 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for enhanced safety 
and environmental protection in pipeline transportation, to provide for 
enhanced reliability in the transportation of the Nation’s energy products 
by pipeline, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 
Mr. SHUSTER (for himself and Mr. MICA) 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 consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for en-
hanced safety and environmental protection in pipeline 
transportation, to provide for enhanced reliability in the 
transportation of the Nation’s energy products by pipe-
line, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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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 amendment 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.—Any term used in this Act that 
is defined in chapter 601 of title 49, United States Code, 
shall have the meaning given that term in that chapter. 
(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. Transportation-related oil flow lines. 
Sec. 12. Cost recovery for design reviews. 
Sec. 13. Biofuel pipelines. 
Sec. 14. Carbon dioxide pipelines. 
Sec. 15. Study of transportation of diluted bitumen. 
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Sec. 16. Study of non-petroleum hazardous liquids transported by pipeline. 
Sec. 17. Clarifications. 
Sec. 18. Maintenance of effort. 
Sec. 19. Administrative enforcement process. 
Sec. 20. Gas and hazardous liquid gathering lines. 
Sec. 21. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. CIVIL PENALTIES. 
(a) GENERAL
PENALTIES; PENALTY
CONSIDER-
ATIONS.—Section 60122 is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 
(A) in the first sentence by striking 
‘‘$100,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$175,000’’; and 
(B) in the last sentence by striking 
‘‘$1,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,750,000’’; 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 Sec-
retary or the National Transportation Safety Board 
investigates an accident 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 (including in-
tegrity management plans and test results); and 
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‘‘(B) afford all reasonable assistance in the 
investigation of the accident. 
‘‘(2) OPERATOR
ASSISTANCE
IN
INVESTIGA-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
impose a civil penalty under section 60122 on 
a person who obstructs or prevents the Sec-
retary from carrying out inspections or inves-
tigations under this chapter. 
‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph, 
the following definitions apply: 
‘‘(i) 
OBSTRUCTS.—The 
term 
‘ob-
structs’ includes actions that were known, 
or reasonably should have been known, to 
prevent, hinder, or impede an investigation 
without good cause. 
‘‘(ii) GOOD CAUSE.—The term ‘good 
cause’ includes, at a minimum, restricting 
access to facilities that are not secure or 
safe for non-pipeline personnel or visi-
tors.’’. 
(c) ADMINISTRATIVE
PENALTY
CAPS
INAPPLI-
CABLE.—Section 60120(a)(1) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: ‘‘The maximum amount of civil pen-
alties for administrative enforcement actions under section 
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(d) DATA REPORTING.—The Secretary shall collect 
any relevant data necessary to complete the evaluation re-
quired by subsection (a). 
(e) 
TECHNICAL
CORRECTION.—Section 
60109(c)(3)(B) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) Subject to paragraph (5), periodic re-
assessments of the facility, at a minimum of 
once every 7 calendar years, using methods de-
scribed in subparagraph (A). Such deadline 
shall be extended for an additional 6 months if 
the operator submits written notice to the Sec-
retary that includes an explanation of the need 
for the extension.’’. 
(f) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding the authority of 
the Secretary under section 60102 of title 49, United 
States Code, the Secretary shall not expand integrity man-
agement system requirements, or elements thereof, beyond 
high consequence areas. 
(g) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON RISK-BASED PIPE-
LINE REASSESSMENT INTERVALS.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall evaluate— 
(1) whether risk-based reassessment intervals 
are a more effective alternative for managing risks 
to pipelines in high-consequence areas once baseline 
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assessments are complete when compared to a 7- 
year reassessment interval; 
(2) the number of anomalies found in baseline 
assessments required under section 60109(c)(3)(A) 
of title 49, United States Code, as compared to the 
number of anomalies found in reassessments re-
quired under section 60109(c)(3)(B) of such title; 
and 
(3) the progress made in incorporating the rec-
ommendations in GAO Report 06–945 and the cur-
rent relevance of recommendations not incorporated 
to date. 
(h) HIGH CONSEQUENCE AREA DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘high consequence area’’ means an area 
described in section 60109(a) of title 49, United States 
Code. 
SEC. 6. PUBLIC EDUCATION AND AWARENESS. 
(a) NATIONAL PIPELINE MAPPING SYSTEM.— 
(1) MAP OF HIGH CONSEQUENCE AREAS.—The 
Secretary of Transportation shall— 
(A) maintain, as part of the National Pipe-
line Mapping System, a map of all designated 
high consequence areas (as described in section 
60109(a) of title 49, United States Code) in 
which pipelines are required to meet integrity 
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management safety regulations, excluding any 
proprietary or sensitive security information; 
and 
(B) update the map biennially. 
(2) PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AWARENESS OF NA-
TIONAL
PIPELINE
MAPPING
SYSTEM.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall develop and implement a pro-
gram promoting greater awareness of the existence 
of the National Pipeline Mapping System to State 
and local emergency responders and other interested 
parties. The program shall include guidance on how 
to use the National Pipeline Mapping System to lo-
cate pipelines in communities and local jurisdictions. 
(b) INFORMATION TO EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGEN-
CIES.— 
(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall issue guidance to owners and operators 
of pipeline facilities on the importance of providing 
system-specific information about their pipeline fa-
cilities to emergency response agencies of the com-
munities and jurisdictions in which those facilities 
are located. 
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(2) CONSULTATION.—Before issuing guidance 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 
with owners and operators of pipeline facilities to de-
termine the extent to which the owners and opera-
tors are already providing system-specific informa-
tion about their pipeline facilities to emergency re-
sponse agencies. 
SEC. 7. CAST IRON GAS PIPELINES. 
(a) FOLLOW-UP SURVEYS.—Section 60108(d) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) Not later than December 31, 2012, and every 
2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct a follow- 
up survey to measure the progress that owners and opera-
tors of pipeline facilities have made in implementing their 
plans for the safe management and replacement of cast 
iron gas pipelines.’’. 
(b) STATUS REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 
2013, the Secretary of Transportation shall transmit to 
the House of Representatives Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure and Committee on Energy and 
Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation a report that— 
(1) identifies the total mileage of cast iron gas 
pipelines in the United States; and 
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(2) evaluates the progress that owners and op-
erators of pipeline facilities have made in imple-
menting their plans for the safe management and 
replacement of cast iron gas pipelines. 
SEC. 8. LEAK DETECTION. 
(a) LEAK DETECTION REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall submit to the Senate Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
and the House of Representatives Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure and Committee 
on Energy and Commerce a report on leak detection 
systems utilized by operators of hazardous liquid 
pipeline facilities and transportation-related flow 
lines. 
(2) CONTENTS.—The report shall include— 
(A) an analysis of the technical limitations 
of current leak detection systems, including the 
systems’ ability to detect ruptures and small 
leaks that are ongoing or intermittent, and 
what can be done to foster development of bet-
ter technologies; and 
(B) an analysis of the feasibility of estab-
lishing technically, operationally, and economi-
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