Crude by Rail Volatility Standard Act

Bill: 116-hr-5553
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-3]
Introduced: 2020-01-08
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Oil and gas

Railroads

Transportation safety and security
Latest action: action_date: 2020-01-09
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-01-08
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Crude by Rail Volatility Standard Act </b></p> <p>This bill establishes a maximum volatility standard for crude oil.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill</p> <ul> <li>prohibits the transportation by rail of crude oil with Reid vapor pressure (a measure of gasoline's volatility) of more than 9.5 pounds per square inch (the maximum volatility set by the New York Mercantile Exchange for crude oil futures contracts), and</li> <li>directs the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to finalize a rule setting a maximum volatility standard for crude oil and other hazardous materials transported by rail.</li> </ul>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5553 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 8, 2020 Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Ms. Lee of California , Mr. Foster , Mrs. Lowey , and Mr. Raskin ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To prohibit transportation by rail of crude oil with a Ried vapor pressure of more than 9.5 pounds per square inch, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Crude by Rail Volatility Standard Act . 2. National standard for maximum crude oil volatility (a) In general Crude oil may only be transported by rail if the oil has a Reid vapor pressure of not more than 9.5 pounds per square inch, the maximum volatility set by the New York Mercantile Exchange for crude oil futures contracts. (b) Application Subsection (a) shall apply to the transportation of crude oil occurring on and after the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (c) Crude oil volatility standard Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration shall issue a final rule based on the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking titled Hazardous Materials: Volatility of Unrefined Petroleum Products and Class 3 Materials and published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 5499).