US Sens. Peters, Stabenow introduce legislation to increase pipeline safety in Great Lakes region

U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Michigan Democrats, on Wednesday introduced a package of bills aimed at increasing pipeline safety in the Great Lakes region.

The bills would raise liability caps for Great Lakes pipeline operators, expand and clarify the U.S. Secretary of Transportation’s authority to suspend or shut down unsafe oil pipelines, strengthen federal review of oil spill response plans, and increase transparency surrounding oil spill response and clean up plans. The bill would also create a U.S. Coast Guard Center for Expertise in the Great Lakes region to study freshwater oil spills.

“We cannot allow another devastating pipeline break like the one that dumped a million gallons of oil in to the Kalamazoo River in 2010,” Stabenow said. “The bills we are announcing today will help protect the Great Lakes and other areas in Michigan from future spills by requiring stronger safeguards and oversight of oil pipelines.”

In 2015, Peters and Stabenow introduced legislation to enhance oversight of pipelines and improve response plans for oil spills under ice-covered waters. These provisions were included in the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act, or PIPES Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law last year.

“The Great Lakes ecosystem is unlike any other in the world, and many existing pipeline safety rules and regulations do not adequately protect this precious resource from a disastrous oil spill,” Peters, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said.