Review - HR 6494 Introduced – 2023 PIPES Act

Back in November, Rep Graves (R,MO) introduced HR 6494, the Promoting Innovation in Pipeline Efficiency and Safety (PIPES) Act of 2023. This is the periodic update of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration’s (PHMSA’s) Pipeline Safety Regulation (PSR). The bill authorizes spending for PSR operations.

Topics of potential interest here include:

Sec. 5. Regulatory updates.

Sec. 14. Study on composite materials for pipelines.

Sec. 21. Penalty for causing a defect in or disrupting operation of pipeline infrastructure.

Sec. 24. Pipeline safety voluntary information-sharing system.

Sec. 25. Carbon dioxide pipelines.

Sec. 29. Disclosure of safety information assessment.

Sec. 31. Report assessing the costs of pipeline failures.

Sec. 32. Study on localized emergency alert system for pipeline facilities incidents.

Moving Forward

Graves is the Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This bill was crafted by the Committee staff and has bipartisan support, as well as support from industry.

On December 6^th, 2023, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a markup hearing that included HR 6494. Substitute language was offered and was adopted by a voice vote. The substitute language did not change the listed sections and only made relatively minor changes to the sections discussed above.

Once the Committee’s report on the bill is published, it will be cleared for consideration by the full House. I suspect that the bill will be considered under the suspension of the rules process.

 

For more details about this legislation, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-6494-introduced - subscription required.