Congress 116 - HR 5120 - SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019

Sponsor

Cosponsors

Topics

Accidents Administrative law and regulatory procedures Advanced technology and technological innovations Air quality Building construction Business records Civil actions and liability Climate change and greenhouse gases Congressional oversight Criminal procedure and sentencing Department of Transportation Earth sciences Emergency communications systems Emergency planning and evacuation Employee hiring Energy research Energy storage, supplies, demand Environmental assessment, monitoring, research Environmental health Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental regulatory procedures First responders and emergency personnel Geography and mapping Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Hazardous wastes and toxic substances Intergovernmental relations Members of Congress Minority employment Natural disasters Oil and gas Pipelines Pollution liability Research administration and funding Research and development State and local government operations Student aid and college costs Transportation and Public Works Transportation costs Transportation employees Transportation programs funding Transportation safety and security User charges and fees Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation Wages and earnings Women's employment

Full Text

Votes

Summary

Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Environmentally Responsible Pipelines Act of 2019 or the SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019

This bill addresses natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines safety.

Among other things, the bill

reauthorizes pipeline safety activities through FY2023;
prioritizes assessment methods for transmission pipelines that can provide a greater level of safety than direct assessment, including the use of internal inspection devices or pressure testing;
makes it mandatory for each operator of a transmission pipeline facility in a high consequence area to install automatic or remote shutoff valves;
directs owners and operators of gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facilities to make critical operational information available to surrounding communities and first responders;
increases civil penalties for violations and revises the criminal penalty standard from knowingly and willfully to knowingly or recklessly;
requires advanced leak-detection that can identify leak locations and amounts released on gas pipelines;
directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to finalize a rule on gas gathering lines; and
authorizes DOT to establish a confidential and nonpunitive voluntary information-sharing system to improve natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipeline safety.

Actions

Dec 17, 2020

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 545.
Dec 17, 2020

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged.
Dec 17, 2020

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. H. Rept. 116-661, Part I.
Nov 20, 2019

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 32 - 26.
Nov 20, 2019

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Nov 20, 2019

Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Discharged.
Nov 18, 2019

Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
Nov 18, 2019

Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Nov 15, 2019

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Nov 15, 2019

Introduced in House

Amendments

Related Bills