A bill in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to strengthen rules regarding the safety of oil and natural gas pipelines, a lawmaker said. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power approved a measure that would update the maximum allowable operating pressure on pipelines and include new provisions for those crossing waterways.
The House committee said the legislation is in response to last year's deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., and the July oil spill in the Yellowstone River near Billings, Mont.
A September 2010 gas explosion killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in San Bruno. The Silvertip pipeline operated by Exxon Mobil spilled around 1,000 barrels into the Yellowstone River when it ruptured July 1.
"This bill demands improvements in both technology and personnel that can help prevent leaks from occurring in the first place and reduce the damage if they do," U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement.
Line pressure on the San Bruno line caused a weld seam to rupture. Investigators haven't indicated a cause for the Silvertip rupture, though officials in December confirmed the pipeline was buried 5 feet below the riverbed, meeting the 4-feet-depth-of-cover requirements of pipeline safety regulators.
