WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Commerce Committee Chairmen Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) today introduced comprehensive pipeline safety legislation. The bill (S.3961) is being co-sponsored by Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).  The measure would specifically reauthorize the Pipeline Safety Act for four years starting in 2007. 

 

The measure would also:

 

Increase the Department of Transportation’s Resources Dedicated to Overseeing Pipeline Safety - The bill provides an additional 45 federal inspectors (a 50% increase) over the four years of the bill at a cost of $6 million in Fiscal Year 2010.  Currently the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has ninety inspectors, but the Inspector General has stated in the past that these relatively low staffing levels are a matter for concern.  The ninety inspectors translate to one inspector for every 18,000 miles of pipeline in this country.

 

Strengthen Programs to Reduce Construction Related Damage to Pipelines - The bill includes new civil enforcement authority against excavators and pipeline operators responsible for third-party damage incidents and provides grants to states that have damage prevention programs in place.  Construction related damage, such as damage caused by excavation for a highway project, is the greatest source of pipeline accidents that result in death or injury.  This occurs most often on the distribution systems that run through the neighborhoods where people live and work.  These incidents have increased by 49 percent since 1996. 

 

Apply DOT Safety Standards to the Currently Unregulated Low Stress Pipelines - On August 31, the Department of Transportation announced proposed rules to cover low stress pipelines in unusually sensitive areas.  Pipeline operators will have to meet new safety requirements, including cleaning and continuous monitoring, along more than 1,200 miles of pipelines.   However, low-stress lines that aren’t in such sensitive areas (about 4,200 miles) would continue to be unregulated.  The draft bill goes further than the draft regulation and requires DOT oversight of all low-stress pipelines.