What Provisions Must Federal Legislation Include to Prevent Pipeline Tragedies?
• Liability and Enforcment: Pipeline ruptures that create substantial safety and environmental impacts must receive swift and certain penalties, and effective citizen enforcement must be allowed; • Standards: Establish federal requirements for oil pipelines that are now lacking (i.e., for pipeline testing, re-testing, and repairs, leak detection, emergency shut-off valves, and failsafe mechanisms to prevent overpressurization), and improve the corrosion prevention requirements since corrosion is the biggest single cause of oil pipeline releases; • Right-to-Know: Require oil pipeline and natural gas transmission companies to provide accountability directly to the public on important aspects of their operations; • Regional Advisory Councils: Provide the funds and authority for establishment of independent regional advisory councils, modeled after the post-Exxon Valdez councils established in Alaska, to enable public and local government representatives to provide oversight and make subst
