The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION TO ENHANCE SECURITY AND SAFETY ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Senate section on pages S10966-S10967 on Nov. 13, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION TO ENHANCE SECURITY AND SAFETY ACT
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Commerce Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3609 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3609) to amend title 49, to enhance the security and safety of pipelines.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, Congressional action to send comprehensive pipeline safety legislation to the President is long overdue. The Senate has worked long and hard during both the 106th and the 107th Congresses on this important issue and we should not let any more time pass without taking needed action to improve pipeline safety. I am hopeful we will finally achieve final passage on this issue before adjournment.
The Office of Pipeline Safety, OPS, within the Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration, RSPA, oversees the transportation of about 65 percent of the petroleum and most of the natural gas transported in the United States. OPS regulates the day-to-day safety of 3,000 gas pipeline operators with more than 1.6 million miles of pipeline. It also regulates more than 200 hazardous liquid operators with 155,000 miles of pipelines. Given the immense array of pipelines that traverse our nation, reauthorization of our pipeline safety programs is critical to the safety and security of thousands of communities and millions of Americans nationwide.
As my colleagues know, the Senate has approved pipeline safety legislation three times in the last three years. Twice we passed stand alone bills, in 2000 and again in 2001. Beginning in the 106th Congress, we worked on a bipartisan basis to develop and approve legislation to promote both public and environmental safety by reauthorizing and strengthening our Federal pipeline safety programs which expired in September 2000. In particular, the efforts of Senators Slade Gorton and Patty Murray were instrumental to the Senate's efforts to address this important safety issue.
In our protracted effort to enact pipeline safety legislation--the House had not approved its version of a related measure--we resorted to adding the pipeline safety bill to the Energy bill during its floor consideration last March. Subsequently, the House approved its pipeline safety legislation in July. While the House-passed energy bill did not include pipeline safety provisions, the House agreed to try to reach a consensus on the important issue in the context of the energy conference. As a result, the measure before us today is the sound, pro-
safety agreement that was achieved during the energy conference deliberations.
The members of the energy conference are to be commended for their commitment to this important issue. They developed a consensus pipeline safety title that includes the best provisions from both the Senate- and House-passed bills. Although I did not serve as a formal member of that conference, we shared a goal of enacting comprehensive legislation to promote pipeline safety for the public, the environment, and the economy.
I want to commend Representatives Billy Tauzin, John Dingell, and Don Young and Senators Jeff Bingaman and Frank Murkowski for their leadership and hard work on this issue and their courtesies to ensure the Senate authorizing committee was fully consulted during the process. Given that a consensus on a comprehensive energy package will not be achieved during this Congress, it is time to move forward and approve the agreement that was reached regarding pipeline safety.
In large part, the legislation before us is the result of several tragic pipeline accidents that have occurred in recent years. Since 1999, pipeline accidents have resulted in 78 fatalities. In June 1999, a fatal accident occurred in Bellingham, Washington, when gasoline leaked from an underground pipeline and was subsequently ignited. That accident resulted in three deaths, a number of injuries, and severe environmental damage to the area. On August 19, 2000, a natural gas transmission line ruptured in Carlsbad, New Mexico, killing 12 members of two families. These were two very serious accidents and they helped spur the Senate's action to address identified safety shortcomings.
As I mentioned, the Senate has worked at length to improve pipeline safety and reduce the risk of future accidents. During the last Congress, with the assistance of a bipartisan group of Senators, the Senate passed the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2000. Since the House failed to approve pipeline safety legislation, we were never able to send a measure to the President.
When the 107th Congress convened, one of the first legislative actions taken by the Senate was to consider and pass S. 235, the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2001, a measure nearly identical to what we passed in the prior Congress. Early attention by the Senate demonstrated our firm commitment to improving pipeline safety. Although it has taken far longer than I would have hoped, it is important that we are taking this action today as we work to finish our legislative activities for the year.
Despite the tragic accidents I highlighted earlier, the safety record of the pipeline industry has generally improved significantly and compares favorably to other forms of transportation. According to the Department of Transportation, pipeline related incidents dropped nearly 80 percent between 1975 and 1998, and the loss of product due to accidental ruptures has been cut in half. From 1989 through 2001, pipeline accidents resulted in about 24 fatalities per year, far fewer than the number of fatal accidents experienced among other modes of transportation. But this record must not be used as an excuse for inaction on legislation to strengthen pipeline safety.
The pipeline safety program expired more than two years ago. It is essential that the Congress take final action on this critical public and environmental safety issue. This legislation reauthorizes and strengthens Federal pipeline safety programs, providing additional funding for safety enforcement and research and development efforts. It also provides for increased State oversight authority and facilitates greater public education efforts at the local community level.
This pending pipeline safety legislation includes many important provisions. I urge my colleagues to support final passage of this critical safety improvement legislation.
Mr. BREAUX. Madam President, I rise in support of H.R. 3609, the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, which will improve the safety and security of our Nation's pipeline systems through important reforms within our Federal safety regulatory program. This idea is not new. The Senate passed this legislation in the 106th Congress, and again in February 2001 as one of the first orders of business of the 107th Congress. The Senate also passed the same language as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2002. This bill is the product of good-faith compromise over three years of work, including compromise with the House of Representatives, and I ask my colleagues to join me in its support.
Both liquid and natural gas pipelines provide transportation of vital energy resources to many parts of our country. In my State, pipelines support what was recently determined to be a $92 billion oil and gas industry. Louisiana is the third leading producer of natural gas and fourth leading producer of crude oil in the country. These products must be transported to the rest of the country for consumption, and pipelines are a key part of this infrastructure. In Louisiana alone, there are over 40,000 miles of gas pipelines, some of which pass through towns, residential areas, schools, churches, and other high-
consequence areas. Oil and other product pipelines also number in the thousands of miles in my State.
In recent years, we have experienced at least two major pipeline accidents: one in Bellingham, WA, and the other near Carlsbad, NM. I am deeply sympathetic to the families of the victims of these tragedies. Nothing can possibly replace their losses. What we have endeavored to do here is take steps to ensure that we as a government address the risks of such accidents in the best possible manner. I think that this legislation will increase the tools available to the Secretary of Transportation to ensure that our pipeline system is as safe as possible. I would ask that the Secretary use the tools that we provide to ensure the aggressive oversight of pipeline safety practices, and involve and protect the affected communities to the greatest possible extent.
Passage of this bill will help to ensure the safety and security of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines and will take strides to increase the safety of our network of oil and natural gas pipelines. I appreciate the considerable number of hours that went into creating this bill by all of the parties. I am also satisfied with the spirit of compromise that accompanied the parties' diligent efforts. As a result of their cooperative work we have a bill that reaffirms our efforts to regulate gas and hazardous liquid pipelines safety and effectively without interfering with the pipeline gas and hazardous liquid pipelines safely and effectively without interfering with the pipeline operators' and owners' ability to provide service to our Nation and without compromising national security.
While there were many who worked arduously to ensure passage of legislation in this area, Senator Murray, Senator Bingaman, and Senator McCain should be recognized for their important contributions. Senator Murray vigorously pursued changes to increase the level of safety and public participation in pipeline safety, and she worked closely with other Commerce Committee members to ensure a reasonable and fair compromise. Senator Bingaman was instrumental in helping bolster the bill's provisions on research and development. We also added provisions he authored to focus our research on progressive areas that will help us develop better systems of early detection, and to ensure that we can avoid accidents such as those that occurred in Bellingham, WA, and near Carlsbad, NM. Senator McCain is to be recognized for his continuing efforts to get this legislation passed. He first initiated this effort years ago as Chairman of the Committee. Last, I would like to thank the efforts of my dedicated staff and all those staff members who helped reach this agreement.
Clearly, this measure is a compromise, and as such, not every group got exactly what they wanted, but this measure will advance the programs and system regulating the safety of our pipeline system. It will require our regulators to finalize a number of overdue regulations. The bill also updates the penalties that would be levied for misconduct and provides whistle blower protection for employees who reveal misconduct. Further, the bill helps us focus on long-term research needs so as to make our future pipeline system even safer. Investment today in research will help us be more efficient and effective in providing a safer and more secure system. While I was for the most part pleased with the final product that we negotiated in this bill, I was concerned that we did not include provisions that would have outlined what sort of pipeline safety information should be made available to the public. Concerns were raised that public disclosure of certain pipeline safety information could jeopardize security. We need to take a look at how we get safety information to the people who need it, but protect that information from those who wish to do harm if it is security-sensitive.
Overall, this is good legislation. It will improve the safety of our pipelines and communities through which pipelines run, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. DURBIN. I understand Senators McCain and Hollings have a substitute amendment at the desk. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered and agreed to; the motion to reconsider by laid upon the table; the bill, as amended, be read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and that any statements be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 4904) was agreed to.
(The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of Amendments.'')
The bill (H.R. 3609), as amended, was read the third time and passed.
____________________
