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PUBLIC LAW 90-461-AUG. 12, 1968

[82 STAT.

Public Law 90-481 August 12, 1968 [S. 1166]

Natural Gas P i p e l i n e Safety Act of 1968.

AN ACT To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe safety standards for the transportation of natural and other gas by pipeline, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the ' N a t u r a l Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968". DEFINITIONS

49 Stat. 543; 54 Stat. 919. 49 USC 3 0 1. 52 Stat. 8 2 1. 15 USC 717w.

SEC. 2. As used in this Act— (1) "Person" means any individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, corporation, association, State, municipality, cooperative association, or joint stock association, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof; (2) "Gas" means natural gas, flammable gas, or gas which is toxic or corrosive; (3) "Transportation of gas" means the gathering, transmission or distribution of gas by pipeline or its storage in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce; except that it shall not include the gathering of gas in those rural locations which lie outside the limits of any incorporated or unincorporated city, town, village, or any other designated residential or commercial area such as a subdivision, a business or shopping center, a community development, or any similar populated area which the Secretary may define as a nonrural area; (4) "Pipeline facilities" includes, without limitation, new and existing pipe rights-of-way and any equipment facility, or building used in the transportation of gas or the treatment of gas during the course of transportation but "rights-of-way" as used in this Act does not authorize the Secretary to prescribe the location or routing of any pipeline facility; (5) "State" includes each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; (6) "Municipality" means a city, county, or any other political subdivision of a State; (7) "National organization of State commissions" means the national organization of the State commissions referred to in part II of the Interstate Commerce Act; (8) "Interstate transmission facilities" means pipeline facilities used in the transportation of gas which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Power Commission under the Natural Gas Act; and (9) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Transportation. STANDARDS ESTABLISHED

SEC. 3. (a) As soon as practicable but not later than three months after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, by order, adopt as interim minimum Federal safety standards for pipeline facilities and the transportation of gas in each State the State standards regulating pipeline facilities and the transportation of gas within such State on the date of enactment of this Act. In any State in which no such standards are in effect, the Secretary shall, by order, establish interim Federal safety standards for pipeline facilities and the transportation of gas in such State which shall be such standards as are common to a majority of States having safety standards for the transportation of gas and pipeline facilities on such date. Interim standards shall remain in effect until amended or revoked pursuant to this section. Any State agency may adopt such additional or more stringent

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