HR9338-119

What This Bill Does

The Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026 would revise Federal pipeline law and continue the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration program through fiscal year 2031. It narrows an exclusion for short industrial gas piping, makes domestic safety and economic effects explicit in minimum-standard analysis, expands criminal pipeline-damage coverage, and raises the separate statutory civil-penalty amounts from $200,000 to $341,200 per violation and from $2,000,000 to $3,412,000 for a related series. It also requires formal hearings in qualifying enforcement matters, limits unrelated conditions on special permits, requires Federal Register notice and an 18-month review deadline, and mandates implementation reports by DOT and GAO.

The bill authorizes $180.786 million annually for gas and hazardous-liquid pipeline safety in fiscal years 2027 through 2031, including $77 million for grants; another $30 million annually from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, including $13 million for grants; and $7 million annually from underground-storage fees. Collected user fees would remain in the Pipeline Safety Fund until spent. A new voluntary information-sharing system, or VIS, would use a 15-member government-industry-public board, a third-party data manager, and expert teams to analyze confidential pipeline data. VIS records generally could not be used for enforcement, litigation, discovery, or FOIA disclosure, but criminal evidence, independently obtained data, and information already required to be reported would remain available.

States would have to incorporate 14 leading practices into one-call programs, covering ticket scope and duration, limited exemptions, tolerance zones, emergencies, excavator duties, white lining, positive response, locatable facilities, line marking, training, and locating technology. DOT would report on adoption and damage rates, and State grant evaluations would consider consistent enforcement, incident and near-miss reporting, and performance measures. A savings clause preserves existing State grant eligibility and certification or agreement requirements.

Who Benefits and How

Pipeline operators facing a proposed compliance action or penalty of at least $125,000 would gain access to a formal hearing, and special-permit applicants would receive public notice, a defined review deadline, and protection from waiver terms unrelated to known risks. Operators, employees, labor unions, contractors, State pipeline agencies, researchers, and safety advocates could share or analyze deidentified safety lessons through the VIS while protected from most enforcement and discovery uses of submitted nonpublic records. State pipeline agencies and grant programs would benefit from five years of Federal authorization. Pipeline workers, nearby residents, utility customers, and the public could benefit from stronger sabotage coverage, better one-call practice, more consistent damage reporting, and analysis of accidents and near misses.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Department of Transportation and PHMSA must publish hearing protocols, complete special-permit reviews, produce reports, appoint and support the VIS board, oversee a data contractor, and administer expanded safety programs. State agencies must amend one-call programs, monitor 14 leading practices, collect damage information, and demonstrate effective enforcement for grant evaluation. Excavators, locators, utilities, municipalities, public-works organizations, and State transportation departments may have to change ticket, marking, training, notification, and reporting practices. Pipeline operators and other fee payers continue financing the program, while the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund may spend the newly authorized amounts. Operators that violate safety rules face higher civil penalties; people who impair an operating pipeline or damage one under construction face broader criminal exposure. Private litigants and government attorneys generally cannot obtain VIS-only nonpublic records, which can increase discovery costs or limit available proof.

Key Provisions

• Requires qualifying pipeline-enforcement respondents to receive a formal hearing and directs DOT to publish public-hearing protocols within one year.
• Limits special-permit conditions to known relevant risks, requires Federal Register notice and review within 18 months, and mandates DOT and GAO reports.
• Expands criminal coverage to impairing pipeline operation and damaging a pipeline facility under construction, while separately increasing civil fines.
• Authorizes fee- and trust-fund-supported pipeline-safety spending and grants for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
• Establishes a voluntary confidential safety-data system with balanced governance, annual reporting, disclosure controls, and defined exceptions.
• Requires States to adopt detailed one-call leading practices and makes enforcement, reporting, and performance measures part of grant evaluation.
• Allows Pipeline Safety Fund user fees to remain available until expended.