House Committee Passes Garamendi’s Earthquake Pipeline Safety Bill
Requires First Comprehensive Review of Federal Regulations since 1992
WASHINGTON, DC— Today, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed Representative John Garamendi’s (D-CA08) “Pipeline Seismic Safety Study Act” as part of the bipartisan bill (H.R.6494) updating federal regulations for pipeline construction, safety, and maintenance. Garamendi is a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which oversees the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
“When it comes to pipeline safety, we simply cannot wait for problems to arise before acting. My bill, adopted in Committee today, marks the first step in updating federal safety standards for pipeline construction and siting. This long-overdue comprehensive review will identify the gaps in the federal government’s outdated regulations and industry practices, enabling us to fortify pipelines against earthquakes and other geologic dangers before it’s too late,” said Garamendi.
Garamendi first introduced the “Pipeline Seismic Safety Study Act” in the 116th Congress with then-Congressman Harley Rouda (D-CA) from southern California. In the 117th Congress, the House of Representatives passed Garamendi’s “Pipeline Seismic Safety Study Act” as part of the 2021 Highway Bill. However, it was not included by the Senate in the final Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58). This year, Garamendi expanded his bill to cover not just earthquakes but all geohazard risks to pipeline safety such as mudslides, land subsidence, frost heave, etc.
The last comprehensive review of federal guidelines for earthquake-resistant construction of gas and liquid fuel pipelines was in 1992. Since then, the proliferation of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas has been linked to increasingly frequent tremors in states with virtually no prior history of naturally occurring earthquakes. Pipelines in California, which is riddled with active fault lines and with increasingly severe land subsidence due to over pumping of groundwater, are particularly vulnerable to these geohazard threats.
The bipartisan “Promoting Innovation in Pipeline Efficiency and Safety (PIPES) Act of 2023” (H.R.6494) passed in Committee today and now awaits action by the full House of Representatives.
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