HR 2937 Amended and Passed in Committee – Pipeline Safety

The House Energy and Commerce Committee took up HR 2937, Pipeline Infrastructure and Community Protection Act of 2011, as the first of three bills considered in their mark-up hearing yesterday. The Committee passed the amended language (that I briefly reported on yesterday) introduced by Chairman Upton (R,MI) by a voice vote and ordered the bill reported favorably by a vote of 55-0, a vote anyone would consider bipartisan.

If/when this comes to the floor of the House this bill will almost certainly pass by a substantial bipartisan majority. A bill with similar language (S 275) is working its way through the Senate. Some sort of pipeline safety bill will almost certainly pass this session.