Dingell and the Pipelines

The House passed a piece of natural gas pipeline legislation this week. The Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act, H.R. 1900 “would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve applications for natural gas pipelines within 12 months.”[1] This was a Republican sponsored bill that saw the support of 26 Democrats which helped the bill pass by a large majority of 252-165. Representative John Dingell (MI-D) was not one of those 26 Democrats, he voted no on the bill staying in line with the majority of his party.

The Democrats largely oppose the bill because it would disrupt an already smooth process. This bill would require that the FERC make a decision, either approve or disapprove the permit applications for pipelines within 12 months. Democrats say that 92 percent of applications are already addressed within 12 months so this is an unnecessary bill.[2] Dingell is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and has been trying to get some transparency in the pipeline process, but he hasn’t had much luck. He offered an amendment to the bill that would “replaces the bill with a requirement that the Government Accountability Office completes a study on what delays are expected by FERC or other permitting agencies.”[3] It was voted down 175-239. Dingell’s amendment is his attempt to make the process more efficient. The claim is made that a decision is made on most applications within 12 months anyway, Dingell’s amendment would be to investigate those that are not processed within 12 months.

 Is Dingell trying to play whistle blower here? This is not the first time he has tried to make natural gas pipeline processes more transparent. In October, Dingell sent a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration demanding that “account for an array of safety steps it was mandated to adopt by the Pipeline Safety Act of 2011.”[4] These safely guidelines were passed into law in 2011 and still have not been enacted. Natural Gas Pipelines seem to be an important issue to Dingell and he is trying multiple routes to improve the process.

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[1] Pete Kasperowicz, "House votes 252-165 to speed up natural gas pipeline approvals," The Hill, Nov 21, 2013. http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/191065-house-votes-to-speed-up-natural-gas-pipeline-approvals.

[2] Pete Kasperowicz, "House votes 252-165 to speed up natural gas pipeline approvals," The Hill, Nov 21, 2013. http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/191065-house-votes-to-speed-up-natural-gas-pipeline-approvals.

[3] Pete Kasperowicz, "House votes 252-165 to speed up natural gas pipeline approvals," The Hill, Nov 21, 2013. http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/191065-house-votes-to-speed-up-natural-gas-pipeline-approvals.

[4] Cordova Times Staff, "More transparency urged in pipeline safety program," Cordova Times , Nov 22, 2013. http://www.thecordovatimes.com/article/1347more-transparency-urged-in-pipeline-safety.