Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1489 - Pipeline Safety Act of 1992

(House)
(Sharp (D) IN and 6 others)

The Administration strongly opposes enactment of the amendment in the nature of a substitute for H.R. 1489. The substitute would not allow the Department of Transportation to implement a risk-based approach to addressing the safety and environmental concerns of pipeline safety transportation. Such an approach would:

— Rank the risks according to their probability of occurrence and consequences.

— Take into account the good safety record of the industry, emerging safety technologies, and the finite resources available to the Department.

— Address risks through both rulemaking and nonrulemaking approaches.

Instead, the substitute includes several provisions which would:

— Mandate the issuance of rules without regard to the Department's own consideration of safety priorities. For example, the substitute mandates/rulemakings related to mapping and inventory (sections 102 and 202); inspection and burial of underwater pipelines outside the Gulf of Mexico (108 and 207); emergency flow restricting devices (212); and underwater abandoned pipelines (117 and 216). Moreover, with respect to underwater pipelines, the substitute ignores the responsibility and significant expertise of the Army Corps of Engineers.

— Impose numerous other burdensome mandates on the Department that would limit its ability to utilize scarce personnel in the most cost-effective manner. These mandates would require inventories of pipelines in certain areas (sections 102 and 202); increase inspection requirements (103 and 203); increase requirements for formalizing enforcement agreements (113 and 213); reduce the Department's discretion in enforcing hazardous liquid pipeline requirements (206); and potentially require the reallocation of compliance personnel (305).

In addition, the bill would unjustifiably exempt several required surveys from the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The Administration strongly supports section 503. This provision would relieve farmers hauling relatively small quantities of fertilizer from the registration and fees required by 1990 amendments to the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. It is one of four priority legislative changes identified in the Department's recent "Report to the President, Review of Regulations."

Pay-As-You-Go-Scoring

At least two provisions of the substitute would affect receipts; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990. OMB's preliminary scoring estimates of this bill are presented below. Final scoring of this legislation may deviate from this estimate. If H.R. 1489 were enacted, a final OMB scoring estimate would be published within five days of enactment, as required by OBRA. The cumulative effects of all enacted legislation on direct spending will be issued in monthly reports transmitted to the Congress.

Estimates for Pay-As-You-Go
($ in millions)