House committee advances bill to extend funding for pipeline-safety initiative

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently advanced H.R. 4937, the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2016, a bi-partisan bill that reauthorizes the Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) pipeline-safety initiative.

“The legislation contains some important safety provisions, including giving the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) authority to act quickly to address industry-wide safety hazards as soon as they are discovered,” U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), ranking member of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee who co-authored the bill, said. “This bipartisan effort will enhance overall pipeline safety and oversight, and I thank my colleagues for their cooperative efforts.”

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), chairman of the subcommittee; Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), full committee chairman; and Peter DeFazio (D-OR), full committee ranking member, joined Capuano in introducing the bill, which would reauthorize the pipeline safety program for four years and enhance agency rulemakings in terms of quality and timeliness. The bill also would promote better use of the data available on pipeline safety and give the industry, safety community and general public regulatory certainty.

“We have a responsibility and opportunity to ensure the efficiency and safety of the 2.6 million miles of pipelines transporting energy resources to Americans across the country,” Denham said. “This bipartisan legislation requires PHMSA to complete mandated safety requirements and to evaluate and report to Congress on their rulemaking process, making our pipelines safer than ever before. I’m pleased to see so much support in the committee for this bill.”