Safer Pipelines Act of 2017

Safe and Accountable Federal Energy Review for Pipelines Act of 2017 or the Safer Pipelines Act of 2017

This bill requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), before granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a proposed pipeline expansion project for which a challenge has been raised, to

• assign an administrative law judge to hold a full trial-type evidentiary hearing on the need for the expansion or conduct an evidentiary hearing after conducting limited discovery, and
• issue a staff report publishing the findings with respect to each factor which includes the data and analyses relied upon in reaching those findings.

Additionally, FERC must (1) conduct a cumulative review of planned energy infrastructure projects in the region of the proposed expansion; (2) consider, in the case of interstate pipeline projects, the cumulative environmental impacts of other interstate or regional projects; and (3) monitor approved pipeline projects for five years to ensure that environmental mitigation steps have been implemented.