On October 18, the Senate approved the Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2011 (S. 275) by unanimous consent. The legislation would reauthorize the nation’s primary pipeline safety law through FY 2015 and strengthen the authority of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Specifically the bill would: increase civil penalties for violators of pipeline regulations and those obstructing investigations; require the installation of automatic or remote-controlled shut-off valves on new transmission pipelines; require DOT to evaluate whether federal safety requirements should be expanded beyond currently defined high consequence areas; authorize regulations that establish time limits on accident and leak notification by pipeline operators to local and state government officials and emergency responders; and authorize additional pipeline inspectors. Additionally, the bill contains a potentially problematic provision for states that would eliminate exemptions granted to many state and local government agencies, and their contractors, that allow them to bypass notifying “One-Call” centers before proceeding with construction projects that involve digging.

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee as well as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee have also cleared similar measures.