WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on important bipartisan pipeline safety legislation this week. Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today released a fact sheet of a bipartisan House amendment to S. 2276, the SAFE PIPES Act. The amendment incorporates text from two bills approved in committee in April: H.R. 5050, the Pipeline Safety Act of 2016, which passed the Energy and Commerce Committee, and H.R. 4937, the PIPES Act of 2016, which passed the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The amendment to the Senate bill would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and require the agency to update safety regulations, increase transparency, and embrace emerging technologies.
“Over two thirds of the energy consumed in the United States moves through our nation’s pipeline network, and keeping the system safe, secure, and efficient requires updating the current PHMSA regulatory regime," said Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Energy and Power Subcommittee Ranking Member Bobby Rush (D-IL), Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Denham (R-CA), and Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Ranking Member Michael Capuano (D-CT). “Our committees have a long, bipartisan tradition of working together to enact meaningful pipeline safety reform and the solution under consideration this week makes great strides in strengthening our pipeline safety laws."
