Review – HR 2613 Introduced - Next-Gen Pipelines

Last month Rep Weber (R,TX) introduced HR 2613, the Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act. The bill would require the Department of Energy to establish a new grant program to “carry out demonstration projects on low- to mid-technology readiness level subjects to achieve deployment of technologies”. It would also require DOE and DOT to conduct a joint R&D program to carry out basic research projects. Finally, the bill would require DOE to establish the National Pipeline Modernization Center. The bill would authorize $50-million, $30-million and $15-million through 2030 for the three new programs.

This bill is essentially the same as HR 7073 that was introduced by Webber in January of 2024. The Science, Space, and Technology Committee considered the bill in a March 20^th, 2024 business meeting. The Committee amended and then approved the bill by a vote of 36 to 0. On September 24^th, 2024, the House considered the bill under the suspension of the rules process and passed it by a vote of 373 to 41. No action was taken by the Senate in the 118^th Congress.

Committee Markup

The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee held a business meeting on April 29^th, 2025, that considered six bills, including HR 2613. The Committee ordered the bill reported favorably without amendment by a voice vote.

Moving Forward

Once the Committee report is published (or reported without written report) the bill will be available to be considered by the full House. With the bipartisan support the bill has received in the past, I would expect the leadership to bring this bill to the floor under the suspension of the rules process. That process would allow for limited debate, no floor amendments, and would require a supermajority for passage.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-2613-introduced-next-gen-pipelines - subscription required.

HR 7073 Passed in House – NextGen Pipeline Systems

After debating HR 7073, the Next Generation Pipelines Research, [removed from paywall] for about 14-minutes yesterday under the suspension of the rules process, The House completed consideration of the bill this afternoon, passing it by a largely bipartisan vote of 373 to 41; with Democrats and Republicans splitting the Nay votes almost evenly. The bill, which would require Department of Energy to establish a new grant program to “carry out demonstration projects on low- to mid-technology readiness level subjects to achieve deployment of technologies”, now moves to the Senate for consideration.

This late in the session it would be very surprising to see the Senate taking up this bill, it is just not politically important enough to take up the time needed for consideration under regular order. The regular alternative for a bipartisan bill would be for it to be considered under the Senate’s unanimous consent rule, but that is not likely to work with this bill given the opposition of radical Republicans in the House. Their Senate counterparts are well known for objecting to consideration of bills under the unanimous consent process, thus killing the movement towards passage.

This bill might be suited for addition to the end-of-year omnibus spending bill. Since the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee {Sen Cruiz, (R,TX)} may be disinclined to block a pipeline research bill, there would not be an automatic veto preventing this bill from being added like we have seen with many homeland security related bills and Sen Paul (R,TN). 

Committee Hearings – Week of 3-17-24

This week, with the House and Senate both in session, there is a relatively heavy hearing schedule. Budget hearings are starting the FY 2025 spending cycle. And there are a lot of markup hearings with three of particular interest here. There will also be an oversight hearing on the DHS cWMD office.

Budget Hearings:

The FY 2025 spending process starts this week with budget hearings. I do not cover these much anymore since Presidential Budgets have been ‘dead on arrival’ for almost a decade now, but they do deserve, at least, mention in passing.

Budget Hearings	House	Senate
DOE	3-20-24 E&C
SBA		3-20-24 SBC

Markup Hearings

Energy and Commerce Committee markup hearing – 3-20-24 – 28 bills:

HR 7655, Pipeline Safety, Modernization, and Expansion Act of 2024, and

HR 7589, Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup hearing – 3-20-24 – 2 bills:

HR 7659, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024

Science, Space, and Technology Committee markup hearing – 3-20-24  - 8 bills:

HR 7073, Next Generation Pipelines Research and Development Act

WMD Hearing

On Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology of the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on “Securing our Nation from WMDs: A Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office”. The witness list includes:

• Mary Ellen Callahan, DHS,

• Tina Won Sherman, GAO, and

• Herbert Wolfe, DHS

On the Floor

With an overall agreement reportedly reached on the 2^nd Minibus spending bill (including DHS and DOD), there is a good chance that the bill will come to the floor of the House this week, but it seems unlikely that it will be able to clear both houses before the midnight Friday deadline to keep the government funded. Politicians may risk a technical shutdown over some of the weekend if they think that the House and Senate can finish the bill by Sunday, but it is more likely that there will be yet again a short-term continuing resolution to allow the political posturing in both the House and Senate to run its course.

Review - HR 7073 Introduced – Next-Gen Pipelines

Last month, Rep Weber (R,TX) introduced HR 7073, the Next Generation Pipelines Research. The bill would require the Department of Energy to establish a new grant program to “carry out demonstration projects on low- to mid-technology readiness level subjects to achieve deployment of technologies”. It would also require DOE and DOT to conduct a joint R&D program to carry out basic research projects. Finally, the bill would require DOE to establish the National Pipeline Modernization Center. Also incluces a new NIST pipeline metrology program. The bill would authorize $50-million, $30-million, $15-million, and $1.5 million through 2028 for the four new programs.

This bill is very similar to HR 9349 [removed from paywall] introduced by Webber in the 117^th Congress. Most of the changes are editorial in nature; §4 of the earlier bill, for instance, is changed to include the earlier language in a new §40344 to be added to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (PL 117-158). The major change, however, is that a new §8 has been added to the bill that would provide an off-set for the new spending authorized in the bill by reducing funding in §10771, Department of Energy research, development, and demonstration activities, of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (PL 117-167), after extending that spending authorization through 2028. The new version of the bill also adds a new §7, NIST Pipeline Metrology, authorized at $2.5-million per year through 2028.

HR 9349 was introduced too late in the 117^th Congress for any action to be taken.

Moving Forward

Webber and his three cosponsors {Rep Caraveo (D,CO), Rep Lucas (R,CO), and Rep Obernolte (R,CA)} are all members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see this bill considered in Committee. I do not see anything in the legislation that would engender organized opposition. I suspect that there would be bipartisan support for the bill, but I am not sure that it would be sufficient to allow the bill to move to the floor of the House under the suspension of the rules process.

Commentary

Webber’s staff has done an interesting job of neutralizing the money problem with this bill. Since no new monies are authorized, the fiscal hawks are less likely to object to the bill. The extension of the existing spending authorizations (albeit at somewhat reduced levels), give the environmental folks a reason to support the bill. And, of course, industry is sure to support federal funding of pipeline research efforts.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-7073-introduced - subscription required.

Bills Introduced – 1-22-24

Yesterday, with the Senate in Washington and the House meeting in pro forma session, there were 25 bills introduced. Three of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 7062 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to periodically assess cybersecurity threats to, and vulnerabilities in, the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector and to provide recommendations to enhance their security and resilience, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct an annual cross-sector simulation exercise relating to a food-related emergency or disruption, and for other purposes. Finstad, Brad [Rep.-R-MN-1] 

HR 7073 To improve public-private partnerships and increase Federal research, development, and demonstration related to the evolution of next generation pipeline systems, and for other purposes. Weber, Randy K., Sr. [Rep.-R-TX-14]

S 3635 A bill to improve the President's Cup Cybersecurity Competitions. Peters, Gary C. [Sen.-D-MI]