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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 60133. Coordination of environmental reviews
(a) Interagency Committee. -
(1) Establishment and purpose. - Not later than 30 days after
the date of enactment of this section, the President shall
establish an Interagency Committee to develop and ensure
implementation of a coordinated environmental review and
permitting process in order to enable pipeline operators to
commence and complete all activities necessary to carry out
pipeline repairs within any time periods specified by rule by the
Secretary.
(2) Membership. - The Chairman of the Council on Environmental
Quality (or a designee of the Chairman) shall chair the
Interagency Committee, which shall consist of representatives of
Federal agencies with responsibilities relating to pipeline
repair projects, including each of the following persons (or a
designee thereof):
(A) The Secretary of Transportation.
(B) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(C) The Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service.
(D) The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(E) The Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
(F) The Director of the Minerals Management Service.
(G) The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
(H) The Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(3) Evaluation. - The Interagency Committee shall evaluate
Federal permitting requirements to which access, excavation, and
restoration activities in connection with pipeline repairs
described in paragraph (1) may be subject. As part of its
evaluation, the Interagency Committee shall examine the access,
excavation, and restoration practices of the pipeline industry in
connection with such pipeline repairs, and may develop a
compendium of best practices used by the industry to access,
excavate, and restore the site of a pipeline repair.
(4) Memorandum of understanding. - Based upon the evaluation
required under paragraph (3) and not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this section, the members of the Interagency
Committee shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to
provide for a coordinated and expedited pipeline repair permit
review process to carry out the purpose set forth in paragraph
(1). The Interagency Committee shall include provisions in the
memorandum of understanding identifying those repairs or
categories of repairs described in paragraph (1) for which the
best practices identified under paragraph (3), when properly
employed by a pipeline operator, would result in no more than
minimal adverse effects on the environment and for which
discretionary administrative reviews may therefore be minimized
or eliminated. With respect to pipeline repairs described in
paragraph (1) to which the preceding sentence would not be
applicable, the Interagency Committee shall include provisions to
enable pipeline operators to commence and complete all activities
necessary to carry out pipeline repairs within any time periods
specified by rule by the Secretary. The Interagency Committee
shall include in the memorandum of understanding criteria under
which permits required for such pipeline repair activities should
be prioritized over other less urgent agency permit application
reviews. The Interagency Committee shall not enter into a
memorandum of understanding under this paragraph except by
unanimous agreement of the members of the Interagency Committee.
(5) State and local consultation. - In carrying out this
subsection, the Interagency Committee shall consult with
appropriate State and local environmental, pipeline safety, and
emergency response officials, and such other officials as the
Interagency Committee considers appropriate.
(b) Implementation. - Not later than 180 days after the
completion of the memorandum of understanding required under
subsection (a)(4), each agency represented on the Interagency
Committee shall revise its regulations as necessary to implement
the provisions of the memorandum of understanding.
(c) Savings Provisions; No Preemption. - Nothing in this section
shall be construed -
(1) to require a pipeline operator to obtain a Federal permit,
if no Federal permit would otherwise have been required under
Federal law; or
(2) to preempt applicable Federal, State, or local
environmental law.
(d) Interim Operational Alternatives. -
(1) In general. - Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this section, and subject to the limitations in
paragraph (2), the Secretary of Transportation shall revise the
regulations of the Department, to the extent necessary, to permit
a pipeline operator subject to time periods for repair specified
by rule by the Secretary to implement alternative mitigation
measures until all applicable permits have been granted.
(2) Limitations. - The regulations issued by the Secretary
pursuant to this subsection shall not allow an operator to
implement alternative mitigation measures pursuant to paragraph
(1) unless -
(A) allowing the operator to implement such measures would be
consistent with the protection of human health, public safety,
and the environment;
(B) the operator, with respect to a particular repair
project, has applied for and is pursuing diligently and in good
faith all required Federal, State, and local permits to carry
out the project; and
(C) the proposed alternative mitigation measures are not
incompatible with pipeline safety.
(e) Ombudsman. - The Secretary shall designate an ombudsman to
assist in expediting pipeline repairs and resolving disagreements
between Federal, State, and local permitting agencies and the
pipeline operator during agency review of any pipeline repair
activity, consistent with protection of human health, public
safety, and the environment.
(f) State and Local Permitting Processes. - The Secretary shall
encourage States and local governments to consolidate their
respective permitting processes for pipeline repair projects
subject to any time periods for repair specified by rule by the
Secretary. The Secretary may request other relevant Federal
agencies to provide technical assistance to States and local
governments for the purpose of encouraging such consolidation.
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