I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4849
To provide for enhanced safety, public awareness, and environmental
protection in pipeline transportation, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 13, 2000
Mr. FRANKS
of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr.
PASCRELL, Mr. METCALF, Ms. DUNN, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. DICKS, Mr.
MCDERMOTT, Mr. BAIRD, and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 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 com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To provide for enhanced safety, public awareness, and envi-
ronmental protection in pipeline transportation, 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; AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49,
UNITED STATES CODE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2000’’.
(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.
SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF INSPECTOR GENERAL REC-
OMMENDATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise required by
this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall implement
the safety improvement recommendations provided for in
the Department of Transportation Inspector General’s Re-
port (RT–2000–069).
(b) REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.—Not later than
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and every
90 days thereafter until each of the recommendations re-
ferred to in subsection (a) has been implemented, the Sec-
retary shall transmit to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House
of Representatives a report on the specific actions taken
to implement such recommendations.
(c) REPORTS BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The
Inspector General shall periodically transmit to the Com-
mittees referred to in subsection (b) a report assessing the
Secretary’s progress in implementing the recommenda-
tions referred to in subsection (a) and identifying options
for the Secretary to consider in accelerating recommenda-
tion implementation.
SEC. 3. NTSB SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation,
the Administrator of the Research and Special Program
Administration, and the Director of the Office of Pipeline
Safety shall fully comply with section 1135 of title 49,
United States Code, to ensure timely responsiveness to
National Transportation Safety Board recommendations
about pipeline safety.
(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary, Adminis-
trator, or Director, respectively, shall make a copy of each
recommendation on pipeline safety and response, as de-
scribed in section 1135(a) and (b) of title 49, United
States Code, available to the public at reasonable cost.
(c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary, Admin-
istrator, or Director, respectively, shall submit to the Con-
gress by January 1 of each year a report containing each
recommendation on pipeline safety made by the Board
during the prior year and a copy of the response to each
such recommendation.
SEC. 4. QUALIFICATIONS OF PIPELINE PERSONNEL.
(a) QUALIFICATION PLAN.—Each pipeline operator
shall make available to the Secretary of Transportation,
or, in the case of an intrastate pipeline facility operator,
the appropriate State regulatory agency, a plan that is de-
signed to enhance the qualifications of pipeline personnel
and to reduce the likelihood of accidents and injuries. The
plan shall be made available not more than 6 months after
the date of enactment of this Act, and the operator shall
revise or update the plan as appropriate.
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The enhanced qualification
plan shall include, at a minimum, criteria to demonstrate
the ability of an individual to safely and properly perform
tasks identified under section 60102 of title 49, United
States Code. The plan shall also provide for training and
periodic reexamination of pipeline personnel qualifications
and provide for requalification as appropriate. The Sec-
retary, or, in the case of an intrastate pipeline facility op-
erator, the appropriate State regulatory agency, may re-
view and certify the plans to determine if they are suffi-
cient to provide a safe operating environment and shall
periodically review the plans to ensure the continuation of
a safe operation. The Secretary may establish minimum
standards for pipeline personnel training and evaluation,
which may include written examination, oral examination,
work performance history review, observation during per-
formance on the job, on the job training, simulations, or
other forms of assessment.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit
a report to the Congress evaluating the effectiveness
of operator qualification and training efforts,
including—
(A) actions taken by inspectors;
(B) recommendations made by inspectors
for changes to operator qualification and train-
ing programs; and
(C) industry responses to those actions and
recommendations.
(2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary may establish
criteria for use in evaluating and reporting on oper-
ator qualification and training for purposes of this
subsection.
(3) DUE
DATE.—The Secretary shall submit
the report required by paragraph (1) to the Con-
gress 3 years after the date of enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 5. PIPELINE INTEGRITY INSPECTION PROGRAM.
Section 60109 is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(c) INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT.—
‘‘(1) GENERAL REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary
shall promulgate regulations requiring operators of
hazardous liquid pipelines and natural gas trans-
mission pipelines to evaluate the risks to the opera-
tor’s pipeline facilities in areas identified pursuant
to subsection (a)(1), and to adopt and implement a
program for integrity management that reduces the
risk of an incident in those areas. The regulations
shall be issued no later than one year after the Sec-
retary has issued standards pursuant to subsections
(a) and (b) of this section or by December 31, 2001,
whichever is sooner.
‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR PROGRAM.—In promul-
gating regulations under this subsection, the Sec-
retary shall require an operator’s integrity manage-
ment plan to be based on risk analysis and each
plan shall include, at a minimum—
‘‘(A) internal inspection or pressure test-
ing, or another equally protective methods,
where these techniques are not feasible, that pe-
riodically assesses the integrity of the pipeline;
‘‘(B) clearly defined criteria for evaluating
the results of the inspection or testing done
under subparagraph (A) and procedures to en-
sure identified problems are corrected in a time-
ly manner;
‘‘(C) measures, as appropriate, that pre-
vent and mitigate unintended releases, such as
leak detection, integrity evaluation, restrictive
flow devices, or other measures; and
‘‘(D) a description of the operators’ con-
sultation with State and local officials during
development of the integrity management plan
and actions taken by the operator to address
safety concerns raised by such officials.
‘‘(3) CRITERIA FOR PROGRAM STANDARDS.—In
deciding how frequently the integrity inspections or
testing under paragraph (2)(A) must be conducted,
an operator shall take into account the potential for
new defects developing or previously identified struc-
tural defects caused by construction or installation,
the operational characteristics of the pipeline, and
leak history. In addition, the Secretary may estab-
lish a minimum testing requirement for operators of
pipelines to conduct internal inspections.
‘‘(4) STATE ROLE.—A State authority that has
an agreement in effect with the Secretary under sec-
tion 60106 is authorized to review and assess an op-
erator’s risk analyses and integrity management
plans required under this subsection for interstate
pipelines located in that State. The reviewing State
authority shall provide the Secretary with a written
assessment of the plans, make recommendations, as
appropriate, to address safety concerns not ade-
quately addressed in the operator’s plans, and sub-
mit documentation explaining the State-proposed
plan revisions. The Secretary shall carefully consider
the State’s proposals and work in consultation with
the States and operators to address safety concerns.
‘‘(5) 
MONITORING
IMPLEMENTATION.—The
Secretary shall review the risk analysis and program
for integrity management required under this sub-
section and provide for continued monitoring of such
plans. Not later than 2 years after the implementa-
tion of integrity management plans under this sub-
section, the Secretary shall complete an assessment
and evaluation of the effects on safety and the envi-
ronment of extending all of the requirements man-
dated by the regulations described in paragraph (1)
to additional areas. The Secretary shall submit the
assessment and evaluation to Congress along with
any recommendations to improve and expand the
utilization of integrity management plans.’’.
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 60112 is amended—
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—After notice and an op-
portunity for a hearing, the Secretary of Transportation
may decide a pipeline facility is hazardous if the Secretary
decides that—
‘‘(1) operation of the facility is or would be haz-
ardous to life, property, or the environment; or
‘‘(2) the facility is, or would be, constructed or
operated, or a component of the facility is, or would
be, constructed or operated with equipment, mate-
rial, or a technique that the Secretary decides is
hazardous to life, property, or the environment.’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘is hazardous,’’ in subsection
(d) and inserting ‘‘is, or would be, hazardous’; and
(3) by adding at the end thereof the following:
‘‘(f) SHUTDOWN AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary, or, in the
case of an intrastate pipeline facility operator, the
appropriate State regulatory agency, determines that
allowing the continued operation of a hazardous liq-
uid or natural gas pipeline creates an imminent haz-
ard (as defined in section 5102(5)), the Secretary or
the agency shall take such action as may be nec-
essary to prevent or restrict the operation of that
system for 30 days.
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT EXTENSION AFTER NOTICE
AND
HEARING.—After taking action under para-
graph (1), the Secretary of Transportation or the
agency may extend the period that action is in effect
if the Secretary or the agency determines, after no-
tice and an opportunity for a hearing, that allowing
the operation of the pipeline to resume would create
an imminent hazard (as defined in section 5102).’’.
SEC. 7. PUBLIC EDUCATION, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,
AND COMMUNITY RIGHT TO KNOW.
(a) Section 60116 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 60116. Public education, emergency preparedness,
and community right to know
‘‘(a) PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—
‘‘(1) Each owner or operator of a gas or haz-
ardous liquid pipeline facility shall carry out a con-
tinuing program to educate the public on the use of
a one-call notification system prior to excavation and
other damage prevention activities, the possible haz-
ards associated with unintended releases from the
pipeline facility, the physical indications that such a
release may have occurred, what steps should be
taken for public safety in the event of a pipeline re-
lease, and how to report such an event.
‘‘(2) Within 12 months after the date of enact-
ment of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of
2000, each owner or operator of a gas or hazardous
liquid pipeline facility shall review its existing public
education program for effectiveness and modify the
program as necessary. The completed program shall
include activities to advise affected municipalities,
school districts, businesses, and residents of pipeline
facility locations. The completed program shall be
submitted to the Secretary of Transportation or, in
the case of an intrastate pipeline facility operator,
the appropriate State agency and shall be periodi-
cally reviewed by the Secretary or, in the case of an
intrastate pipeline facility operator, the appropriate
State agency.
‘‘(3) The Secretary may issue standards pre-
scribing the elements of an effective public education
program. The Secretary may also develop material
for use in the program.
‘‘(b) EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.—
‘‘(1) OPERATOR LIAISON.—Within 12 months
after the date of enactment of the Pipeline Safety
Improvement Act of 2000, an operator of a gas
transmission or hazardous liquid pipeline facility
shall initiate and maintain liaison with the State
emergency response commissions, and local emer-
gency planning committees in the areas of pipeline
right-of-way, established under section 301 of the
Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-
Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001) in each State
in which it operates.
‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—An operator shall, upon
request, make available to the State emergency re-
sponse commissions and local emergency planning
committees, and shall make available to the Office of
Pipeline Safety in a standardized form for the pur-
pose of providing the information to the public, the
information described in section 60102(d), any pro-
gram for integrity management, and information
about implementation of that program. The informa-
tion about the facility shall also include, at a
minimum—
‘‘(A) the business name, address, telephone
number of the operator, including a 24-hour
emergency contact number;
‘‘(B) a description of the facility including
pipe diameter, the product or products carried,
and the operating pressure;
‘‘(C) with respect to transmission pipeline
facilities, maps showing the location of the facil-
ity and, when available, any high consequence
areas which the pipeline facility traverses or ad-
joins and abuts;
‘‘(D) a summary description of the integ-
rity measures the operator uses to assure safety
and protection for the environment; and
‘‘(E) a point of contact to respond to ques-
tions from emergency response representative.
‘‘(3) SMALLER COMMUNITIES.—In a community
without a local emergency planning committee, the
operator shall maintain liaison with the local fire,
police, and other emergency response agencies.
‘‘(4) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Secretary shall pre-
scribe requirements for public access, as appropriate,
to this information, including a requirement that the
information be made available to the public by wide-
ly accessible computerized database.
‘‘(c) COMMUNITY RIGHT TO KNOW.—Not later than
12 months after the date of enactment of the Pipeline
Safety Improvement Act of 2000, and annually thereafter,
the owner or operator of each gas transmission or haz-
ardous liquid pipeline facility shall provide to the gov-
erning body of each municipality in which the pipeline fa-
cility is located, a map identifying the location of such fa-
cility. The map may be provided in electronic form. The
Secretary may provide technical assistance to the pipeline
industry on developing public safety and public education
program content and best practices for program delivery,
and on evaluating the effectiveness of the programs. The
Secretary may also provide technical assistance to State
and local officials in applying practices developed in these
programs to their activities to promote pipeline safety.
‘‘(d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—The Sec-
retary shall—
‘‘(1) make available to the public—
‘‘(A) a safety-related condition report filed
by an operator under section 60102(h);
‘‘(B) a report of a pipeline incident filed by
an operator;
‘‘(C) the results of any inspection by the
Office of Pipeline Safety or a State regulatory
official; and
‘‘(D) a description of any corrective action
taken in response to a safety-related condition
reported under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C);
and
‘‘(2) prescribe requirements for public access,
as appropriate, to integrity management program in-
formation prepared under this chapter, including re-
quirements that will ensure data accessibility to the
greatest extent feasible.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal-
ysis for chapter 601 is amended by striking the item relat-
ing to section 60116 and inserting the following:
‘‘60116. Public education, emergency preparedness, and community right to
know.’’.
SEC. 8. PENALTIES.
(a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 60122 is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘$25,000’’ in subsection (a)(1)
and inserting ‘‘$500,000’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘$500,000’’ in subsection (a)(1)
and inserting ‘‘$1,000,000’’;
(3) by adding at the end of subsection (a)(1)
the following: ‘‘The preceding sentence does not
apply to judicial enforcement action under section
60120 or 60121.’’; and
(4) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(b) PENALTY CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining
the amount of a civil penalty under this section—
‘‘(1) the Secretary shall consider—
‘‘(A) the nature, circumstances, and grav-
ity of the violation, including adverse impact on
the environment;
‘‘(B) with respect to the violator, the de-
gree of culpability, any history of prior viola-
tions, the ability to pay, any effect on ability to
continue doing business; and
‘‘(C) good faith in attempting to comply;
and
‘‘(2) the Secretary may consider—
‘‘(A) the economic benefit gained from the
violation without any discount because of subse-
quent damages; and
‘‘(B) other matters that justice requires.’’.
(b) EXCAVATOR
DAMAGE.—Section 60123(d) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘knowingly and willfully’’;
(2) by inserting ‘‘knowingly and willfully’’ be-
fore ‘‘engages’’ in paragraph (1); and
(3) striking paragraph (2)(B) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(B) a pipeline facility, is aware of dam-
age, and does not report the damage promptly
to the operator of the pipeline facility and to
other appropriate authorities; or’’.
(c) CIVIL ACTIONS.—Section 60120(a)(1) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(1) On the request of the Secretary of Transpor-
tation, the Attorney General may bring a civil action in
an appropriate district court of the United States to en-
force this chapter, including section 60112 of this chapter,
or a regulation prescribed or order issued under this chap-
ter. The court may award appropriate relief, including a
temporary or permanent injunction, punitive damages,
and assessment of civil penalties considering the same fac-
tors as prescribed for the Secretary in an administrative
case under section 60122.’’.
SEC. 9. STATE OVERSIGHT ROLE.
(a) STATE AGREEMENTS WITH CERTIFICATION.—
Section 60106 is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘GENERAL AUTHORITY.—’’ in
subsection (a) and inserting ‘‘AGREEMENTS WITH-
OUT CERTIFICATION.—’’;
(2) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and
(d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e); and
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS WITH CERTIFICATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary accepts a
certification under section 60105 of this title and
makes the determination required under this sub-
section, the Secretary may make an agreement with
the oversight of interstate pipeline transportation if
the Secretary finds that—
‘‘(A) implementation of such agreement
has resulted in a gap in the oversight respon-
sibilities of intrastate pipeline transportation by
the State authority;
‘‘(B) the State actions under the agree-
ment have failed to meet the requirements
under subsection (b); or
‘‘(C) continued participation by the State
authority in the oversight of interstate pipeline
transportation is not promoting pipeline safety.
‘‘(3) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec-
retary shall give the notice and an opportunity for
a hearing to a State authority before ending an
agreement under this section. The Secretary may
provide a State an opportunity to correct any defi-
ciencies before ending an agreement. The finding
and decision to end the agreement shall be published
in the Federal Register and may not become effec-
tive for at least 15 days after the date of publication
unless the Secretary finds that continuation of an
agreement poses an imminent hazard.’’.
(c) CONTINUATION OF INTERSTATE AGENT AGREE-
MENT AUTHORITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If an agreement was in ef-
fect in 1999 between the Secretary of Transpor-
tation or one of its agencies and a State to permit
that State to oversee interstate pipeline transpor-
tation, the Secretary shall continue to permit that
State to carry out activities under the agreement, in-
cluding inspection responsibilities and other actions
to ensure compliance with Federal pipeline safety
regulations.
(2) 
TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding 
para-
graph (1), the Secretary may terminate an agree-
ment described in that paragraph if—
(A) the State wishes to withdraw from the
agreement;
(B) implementation of the agreement has
resulted in gaps in the oversight responsibilities
of intrastate pipeline transportation by the
State; or
(C) the State’s oversight actions under the
agreement have had an adverse impact on pipe-
line safety or impeded interstate commerce.
(3) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS FOR TERMI-
NATION.—Before terminating an agreement de-
scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give
notice and an opportunity for a hearing to the State,
and provide an opportunity for the State to correct
any deficiencies. The Secretary shall publish the de-
cision to terminate such an agreement and the rea-
sons therefore in the Federal Register not less than
15 days before the termination is effective, unless
the Secretary finds that continuation of an agree-
ment poses an imminent hazard.
SEC. 10. IMPROVED DATA AND DATA AVAILABILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 12 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation
shall develop and implement a comprehensive plan for the
collection and use of gas and hazardous liquid pipeline
data to revise the causal categories on the incident report
forms to eliminate overlapping and confusing categories
and include subcategories. The plan shall include compo-
nents to provide the capability to perform sound incident
trend analysis and evaluations of pipeline operator per-
formance using normalized accident data.
(b) REPORT
OF RELEASES EXCEEDING 5 GAL-
LONS.—Section 60117(b) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘To’’;
(2) redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B);
(3) inserting before the last sentence the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(2) A person owning or operating a hazardous liquid
pipeline facility shall report to the Secretary each release
to the environment greater than five gallons of the haz-
ardous liquid or carbon dioxide transported. This section
applies to releases from pipeline facilities regulated under
this chapter. A report must include the location of the re-
lease, fatalities and personal injuries, type of product,
amount of product release, cause or causes of the release,
extent of damage to property and the environment, and
the response undertaken to clean up the release.
‘‘(3) During the course of an incident investigation,
a person owning or operating a pipeline facility shall make
records, reports, and information required under sub-
section (a) of this section or other reasonably described
records, reports, and information relevant to the incident
investigation, available to the Secretary within the time
limits prescribed in a written request.’’; and
(4) inserting ‘‘(4)’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’.
(c) PENALTY AUTHORITIES.—(1) Section 60122(a)
is amended by striking ‘‘60114(c)’’ and substituting
‘‘60117(b)(3)’’.
(2) Section 60123(a) is amended by striking
‘‘60114(c)’’ and substituting ‘‘60117(b)(3)’’.
(d) ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL DEPOSITORY.—
Section 60117 is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(l) NATIONAL DEPOSITORY.—The Secretary shall
establish a national depository of data on events and con-
ditions, including spill histories and corrective actions for
specific incidents, that can be used to evaluate the risk
of, and to prevent, pipeline failures and releases. The Sec-
retary shall administer the program through the Bureau
of Transportation Statistics, in cooperation with the Re-
search and Special Programs Administration, and shall
make such information available for use by State and local
planning and emergency response authorities and the pub-
lic.’’.
SEC. 11. INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—As part of the Department of
Transportation’s research and development program, the
Secretary of Transportation shall direct research attention
to the development of alternative technologies—
(1) to expand the capabilities of internal inspec-
tion devices to identify and accurately measure de-
fects and anomalies;
(2) to inspect pipelines that cannot accommo-
date internal inspection devices available on the date
of enactment;
(3) to develop innovative techniques measuring
the structural integrity of pipelines;
(4) to improve the capability, reliability, and
practicality of external leak detection devices; and
(5) to develop and improve alternative tech-
nologies to identify and monitor outside force dam-
age to pipelines.
(b) COOPERATIVE.—The Secretary may participate
in additional technological development through coopera-
tive agreements with trade associations, academic institu-
tions, or other qualified organizations.
SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) 
GAS
AND
HAZARDOUS
LIQUIDS.—Section
60125(a) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(a) GAS AND HAZARDOUS LIQUID.—To carry out
this chapter and other pipeline-related damage prevention
activities of this title (except for section 60107), there are
authorized to be appropriated to the Department of
Transportation—
‘‘(1) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, of which
$20,000,000 is to be derived from user fees for fis-
cal year 2001 collected under section 60301 of this
title; and
‘‘(2) $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years
2002 and 2003 of which $23,000,000 is to be de-