Review - HR 3488 Introduced – Valve Standards Expansion

Back in May, Rep Carbajal (D,CA) introduced HR 3488, Valve Safety Fairness Act of 2025. The bill would require PHMSA to take such actions as are necessary to apply the final rule of the Administration, titled “Pipeline Safety: Requirement of Valve Installation and Minimum Rupture Detection Standards”, to Type A gas gathering lines. While the rulemaking did apply to Type A gas gathering lines, that specific coverage was vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for The District of Columbia Circuit. No new funding is authorized by the bill.

This bill is essentially identical to HR 6496, the Valve Safety Fairness Act of 2023, that was introduced by Carbajal in November 2023. No action was taken on the bill in the 118^th Congress.

Congressional Response

The short text in this bill would provide PHMSA with the authority to bypass the pubic comment and response process with a directed final rule to implement the requirements in the rulemaking for application to Type A gas gathering lines.

Moving Forward

Carbajal and his sole cosponsor {Rep Brownley (D,CA)} are both members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which the bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there could be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I expect that there will be significant Republican opposition to this bill as it would shortcut industry efforts to stop application of this final rule to Type A gathering lines. I do not expect the Committee to take up this bill.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill and its legislative and legal background, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-3488-introduced-valve-standards - subscription required.