An Act to make it a criminal offense to steal, embezzle, or otherwise unlawfully take the property from a pipeline, and for other purposes.
PL 89-654 (S.3433), enacted 10/14/1966

904 
PUBLIC LAW 89-654-OCT. 14, 1966 
[80 STAT. 
Public Law 89-654 
October 14, 1966 
AN A C T 
To make it a criminal offense to steal, embezzle, or otherwise unlawfully take 
property from a pipeline, and for other purposes. 
[S.3433] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
Pipeline theft, 
United States of America in Congress assemMed^ That (a) the first 
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2 ^stat.' 729. 
paragraph of section 659 of title 18, United States Code, relating to 
theft, embezzlement, or other unlawful taking from interstate trans-
portation facilities, is amended (1) by insertin^g before the word 
"railroad" the words "pipeline system,", (2) by inserting before the 
word "station" where it first appears the words "tank or storage 
facility,", and (3) by striking out the words "or express" and substi-
tuting a comma and the words "express, or other property". 
(b) The eighth paragraph of that section is amended by adding at 
the end thereof the following new sentence: "The removal of property 
from a pipeline system which extends interstate shall be prima facie 
evidence of the interstate character of the shipment of the property." 
(c) That section is further amended by adding at the end thereof 
the following new sentence: "Nothing contained in this section shall 
be construed as indicating an intent on the part of Congress to occupy 
the field in which provisions of th^s section operate to the exclusion of 
State laws on the same subject matter, nor shall any provision of this 
section be construed as invalidating any provision of State law unless 
such provision is inconsistent with any of the purposes of this section 
or any provision thereof." 
(d) The caption of that section is amended to read as follows: 
"§ 659. Interstate or foreign shipments by carrier; State prose-
cutions.". 
(e) The item relating to section 659 contained in the chapter anal-
ysis of chapter 31, title 18, United States (^ode, is amended to read as 
follows: 
"659. Interstate or foreign shipments by carriers; State prosecutions.". 
SEC. 2. (a) The first paragraph of section 2117 of title 18, United 
63^stat^96^^^' 
States Code, relating to break'ng the seal or lock on anjr railroad car, 
vessel, aircraft, motortruck, wagon, or vehicle containing interstate 
shipments, is amended by (1) striking out the comma after the word 
"vehicle" where it first appears, and inserting in lieu thereof the words 
"or of any pipeline system,"; (2) strking out the comma after the 
word "express", and inserting in lieu thereof the words "or other 
property,"; and (3) inserting therein, immediately after the word 
"vehicle" where it api>ears the second time, the words "or pipeline 
system". 
(b) That section is further amended by adding at the end thereof 
the following new sentence: "Nothing contained m this section shall 
be construed as indicating an intent on the part of Congress to occupy 
the field in which provisions of this section operate to the exclusion 
of State laws on the same subject matter, nor shall any provision of 
this section be construed as invalidating any provision of State law 
unless such provision is inconsistent with any of the purposes of this 
section or any provision tliereof." 
(c) The caption of that section is amended to read as follows: 
"§ 2117. Breaking or entering carrier facilities.". 
(d) The item relating to section 2117 contained in the chapter analy-
sis of chapter 103, title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows: 
"2117. Breaking or entering carrier facilities.". 
Approved October 14, 1966.