SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019
Latest action · Dec 17, 2020 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 545.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedNov 15, 2019
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
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.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Nov 15, 2019 to Nov 22, 2019; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NJ | Frank Pallone, Jr. | Original | Nov 15, 2019 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Nov 22, 2019 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Transportation and Infrastructure Committee | Referred Nov 15, 2019Markup Nov 20, 2019Reported Dec 17, 2020 |
| Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee | Referred Nov 18, 2019Discharged Nov 20, 2019 | |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Nov 15, 2019Discharged Dec 17, 2020 |
| Energy Subcommittee | Referred Nov 18, 2019 |
Actions 10
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 17, 2020Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. H. Rept. 116-661, Part I.
- Dec 17, 2020Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged.
- Dec 17, 2020Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 545.
- Nov 20, 2019Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Discharged.
- Nov 20, 2019Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Nov 20, 2019Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 32 - 26.
- Nov 18, 2019Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- Nov 18, 2019Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
- Nov 15, 2019Introduced in House
- Nov 15, 2019Referred 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.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 165, no. 183, November 15, 2019, page H8909.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| IN11162 | PHMSA’s Pipeline Safety Reauthorization: Funding Issues Archived | Insight | Aug 10, 2020 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3432 | Safer Pipelines Act of 2019 | Related bill | Nov 20, 2019 |
| HR 4700 | Pipeline Safety Act of 2019 | Related bill | Oct 17, 2019 |
Titles 5
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide enhanced safety and environmental protection in pipeline transportation, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019
- Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Environmentally Responsible Pipelines Act of 2019
- Short Title(s) as Reported to House
- SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019
- Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Environmentally Responsible Pipelines Act of 2019
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Transportation and Public Works.
- 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
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 17, 2020Reported in House
- Nov 15, 2019Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
