The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation to reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and advance the cause of pipeline safety. H.R. 4937, the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2016, is a four-year reauthorization that improves pipeline safety by closing gaps in federal standards. It is also designed to enhance the quality and timeliness of agency rulemakings, promote better usage of data and technology to improve pipeline safety, and provide regulatory certainty for citizens, the safety community, and the industry. The legislation was reported unanimously out of Committee for future consideration by the full House.
During the committee markup process, amendments were offered that would apply new, extremely restrictive “Buy America” requirements on all pipelines permitted by PHMSA. They would establish a database that tracks the origin of pipelines put in place but defines foreign materials far too broadly. AGC weighed in with lawmakers, noting opposition to what would have been the most restrictive definition of American iron and steel at the federal level to date. The requirements would have mandated that all steel processes, including melting and pouring, take place in the US. Furthermore, the iron ore that comprises said iron and steel would have to be mined in the US. Both amendments ultimately failed to meet approval and did not make it into the final bill. AGC will continue to fight domestic materials sourcing expansions.
For more information, contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org