U.S. Senate Passes New Pipeline Safety Bill


		AcuSafe Home Page -> February 2001 Newsletter
		U.S. Senate Passes New Pipeline Safety Bill

On February 8, 2001, the U.S. Senate unanimously (98-0) passed a new pipeline safety bill that is intended to create new standards for oil and natural gas pipelines, and would subject operators who violate the law to higher fines. The legislation responds to a June 2000 pipeline explosion in Bellingham, Wash., that dumped 250,000 gallons of gasoline into a creek and killed three people and an explosion two months later near a campground at Carlsbad, N.M., in which a dozen people were killed. More than 1.6 million miles of natural gas pipelines and 155,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines weave through the country.

Here are key provisions of the Senate bill:

Requires operators to inspect pipelines every five years, although the Transportation Department's inspector general would have some discretion to lift the mandate.
Requires operators to submit to state or federal oversight agencies a plan to enhance the qualifications of pipeline personnel.
Requires owners and operators of pipelines to report to the Transportation Department any spill of more than five gallons.
Increases from $25,000 to $500,000 the civil penalty for each failure by an operator to mark accurately the location of pipelines near construction and demolition operations or violations of other safety standards. The maximum civil penalty was doubled to $1 million.
Expands state oversight of hazardous liquid and natural gas pipelines,
Increases outlays for safety efforts by $13 billion over several years. This includes research into technologies to detect pipeline flaws better.
Improves whistle-blower protections.

The Senate passed similar legislation last year, but without the requirement for inspections every five years. It failed in the House after environmentalists and other critics complained it was too easy on pipeline operators. The new bill now moves to the House, where Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., and James Oberstar, D-Minn., have introduced measures that are more stringent.

Reaction to the legislation was generally favorable, although some groups feel that the bill is not stringent enough.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said many pipelines are 30 or 40 years old and are susceptible to internal corrosion and other damage. They are not inspected regularly. Murray said she feared that President Bush may try to streamline the approval of new natural gas pipelines as part of his energy package. "I recognize that we need to increase our energy generation, but ... let's make pipelines safe first before we lay down more pipelines,'' she said.

Lois Epstein, a senior engineer for the group Environmental Defense, characterized the bill as a "very small step'' in the right direction. "Our greatest problem with the bill was ... about 99 percent of the material in there were things that could be done under the current law,'' she said. "It is giving the illusion of moving the issue forward."