Capps Applauds House Passage of Pipeline Safety Act

Statement

Today, the House of Representatives unanimously approved bipartisan legislation to improve federal oil and gas pipeline safety regulations. Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) was one of several House and Senate members that were directly responsible for co-authoring the final language, which was based on legislation that originated in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Senate. Capps released the following statement on the House Amendment to the PIPES Act, S. 2276. A copy of her extended remarks for the record in support of the legislation can be found at the bottom of this release.

"This bipartisan legislation will take important steps to improve the safety of our pipeline infrastructure along the Central Coast and across the country," Capps said. "Two and a half million miles of energy pipelines run throughout communities all over the United States, often unnoticed or neglected until they fail. My district saw this first-hand last year when Plains's Line 901 spilled thousands of gallons of oil onto Refugio Beach and into the ocean, due to excessive corrosion. Pipeline failures such as this directly threaten the health and safety of the public, the local economy, and our environment.

One of our jobs in Congress is to take lessons learned from past incidents, like the Plains spill, and use them to craft commonsense policies to minimize the risks of future spills. That is what this bill does and I am happy to have helped lead the way on its adoption."

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