GOVERNMENT

摘要

Key Republicans and Democrats in the House were determined to pass a pipeline safety bill this year, although it may have some differences with the bill just passed by the Senate. That bill is called the Securing America's Future Energy: Protecting Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (SAFE PIPES) Act (S. 2276) and was passed by the Senate on March 3. The House pipeline subcommittee held hearings on potential legislation on Feb. 25 and the Energy & Commerce Committee followed with its own hearings a week later. The Senate bill includes one new mandate for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) concerning underground gas storage facilities, but was otherwise an unambitious bill which essentially tells PHMSA to complete numerous unfinished rulemakings the agency was charged with in the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011. The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) generally supports the Senate bill but hopes for a few further tweaks if and when the bill goes to a House-Senate conference committee.