Congress last week approved legislation that establishes new civil penalties for third-party excavators that fail to follow the nationwide one-call program and cause damage to pipelines.

Senate approval came late Thursday, one day after the House passed the bill (HR 5782) that earmarks $353 million through 2010 for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve the safety of the nation’s natural gas and hazardous liquids pipelines. The measure is headed to the White House, where President Bush is expected to sign it.

The bill was supported by the American Gas Association, which said it was a “significant step” in protecting natural gas distribution pipelines from damage by third- party excavators. However, the measure was something of a disappointment for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), which represents interstate gas pipelines.

The bill “doesn’t address the Government Accountability Office’s recommendation for [establishing] risk-based intervals” for reinspection of pipelines, said Martin Edwards, vice president of legislative affairs for INGAA.

In September, the GAO recommended that the federal government consider revising the pipeline safety law to allow natural gas pipelines to reinspect their systems for safety threats at intervals based on the risks of individual pipelines rather than at a fixed period of seven years for the entire industry, as is currently required (see NGI, Sept. 18).

The revisions, if they had been adopted, would have allowed the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to establish maximum reassessment intervals of greater than seven years for less-risky pipelines, and shorter reassessment intervals for riskier gas pipelines, the GAO said in its report.

The Senate- and House-passed measure seeks to strengthen states’ one-call programs by setting new civil penalties for violators; establishes a grant program to help states develop stronger programs to prevent excavation damage to pipelines; requires the DOT to implement an integrity management program for gas distribution pipelines within one year of enactment of the measure; and requires the DOT to publish a monthly summary of its enforcement actions involving natural gas and hazardous liquids pipelines.

The final measure was the result of a deal that was negotiated between the jurisdictional committees — the House Energy and Commerce, House Transportation and Infrastructure and Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation — last week.

The pipeline safety bill replaces the Pipeline Safety Act of 2002, which expired in September.

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