Largely based on the Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2011 (S. 275), which the Senate Commerce Committee reported and the Senate passed by unanimous consent in October, H.R. 2845 – the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Jobs Creation Act – would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), within the Department of Transportation, for fiscal years 2011 through 2014.  This legislation is most timely in light of recent high-profile pipeline accidents in Laurel Montana, in which a pipeline break caused approximately 42,000 thousand gallons of crude oil to spill into the Yellowstone River, and San Bruno, California, in which a natural gas pipeline explosion killed 8 people and injured dozens of others.  A bipartisan piece of legislation that represents a negotiated agreement between the Senate Commerce Committee and House Energy and Commerce and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees, H.R. 2845 contains numerous provisions from S. 275 that will increase the level of safety in our nation’s pipeline networks. For example, the legislation includes provisions based on S. 275 that: 

• Increase the cap on civil penalties for violators of pipeline regulations, and adds civil penalties for obstructing investigations;

• Permit expansion of  excess flow valve requirements to include multi-family buildings and small commercial facilities;

• Set more stringent standards on State “One-Call” systems by eliminating all exemptions given to local and state government agencies, and their contractors, on notifying “One-Call” centers before digging;

• Permit the requirement of  installation of automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves on new transmission pipelines;

• Require the Secretary to prescribe regulations that establish time limits on accident and leak notification by pipeline operators to local and state government officials and emergency responders;

• Require the Secretary to evaluate whether integrity management system requirements should be expanded beyond currently defined high consequence areas and establish regulations as appropriate; 

• Increase public availability of pipeline information, inspections, and standards by requiring that this information be made available on PHMSA’s public website;

• Allow PHMSA to recover costs for oversight of large pipeline design and construction projects; and

• Require gas transmission pipeline operators to verify records and confirm maximum allowable operating pressure.