S 275 Introduced – Pipeline Safety

Last week Sen. Lautenberg (D, NJ) introduced S 275, the Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2011. While this bill has many of the same provisions found in S 234 (that I blogged about earlier) there are additional requirements in this bill, some of which address deficiencies I noted in my earlier blog.

Hazard Communications

Lautenberg’s bill {§8(a)(2)}would require PHMSA to publish (presumably on its web site, but that is not an absolute requirement) emergency response plans (with SSI information redacted/removed) that are currently required to be developed. No, it doesn’t address the problems with ERPs that I identified last year.

Incident Reporting

The legislation does require {§11(1)} the Secretary of Transportation to develop rules requiring pipeline operators to notify state and local officials when a leak or rupture occurs. It also requires the review of current procedures for coordinated notification through the National Response Center {§11(2)}.