03.05.2016

Detroit Free Press: Senate passes pipelines bill with Great Lakes protections

By: Keith Matheny

Tougher pipeline standards near the Great Lakes, improved oil spill response plans and more reviews of pipelines' age and integrity are all parts of a pipeline regulator funding bill that passed the U.S. Senate Thursday.

U.S. Senator Gary Peters was a co-sponsor of the bill, which reauthorizes the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, the federal regulator of pipelines. The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent, and now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The bill includes elements from pipeline legislation originally introduced by Peters and fellow Democratic Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow earlier this year, including:

Designating the Great Lakes as an "Unusually Sensitive Area," which increases the safety standards under which pipeline operators must work in or near the lakes.
Requiring PHMSA and pipeline operators to consider spill response plans that factor in conditions including partial or total ice cover. A February 2013 winter oil spill response exercise at the Straits of Mackinac related to Line 5, twin petroleum pipelines operated underwater there by Canadian oil transport giant Enbridge, proved "very challenging," Steven Keck, the Coast Guard's oil spill contingency specialist based in Sault Ste. Marie, told the Free Press last September. Winds can be severe, and temperatures can drop to around -20 degrees Fahrenheit in winter conditions, he said. "The equipment wasn't robust enough to deal with those conditions," he said.
Requiring the Government Accountability Office to report on pipeline integrity management for natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, and review the risks posed by age, condition, materials and construction of a pipeline.

"An oil spill in the Great Lakes would be catastrophic — not only for Michigan's economy and environment but for the 40 million people that rely on the Great Lakes as their source of clean drinking water," said Peters in a statement.

"I'm pleased that the Senate passed this critical legislation with unanimous, bipartisan support, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to get this bill signed into law so that we can advance safety standards, improve ice cover response plans, and better protect against the devastating impacts an oil spill would have on our waterways and our way of life."