NATURAL GAS PIPELINE 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 pur poses. 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 "Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968". [49 U.S.C. 167 nt.] DEFINITIONS 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 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" mean 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 subchapter III of chapter 103 of title 49, United States Code; (8) "Interstate transmission facilities" means the pipeline facilities used in the transportation of gas which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Natural Gas Act, except that it shall not include any pipeline facilities within a State which transport gas from an interstate gas pipeline to a direct sales customer within such State purchasing gas for its own consumption; (9) "Intrastate pipeline transportation" means pipeline facilities and transportation of gas within a State which are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Natural Gas Act, except that it shall include pipeline facilities within a State which transport gas from an interstate gas pipeline to a direct sales customer within such State purchasing gas for its own consumption; (10) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Transportation; (11) "LNG" means natural gas in a liquid or semisolid state; (12) "LNG facility" means any pipeline facility used for the transportation or storage of LNG, or for LNG conversion, in interstate or foreign commerce, but does not include any structure or equipment (or portion thereof) located in navigable waters (as defined in section 3(8) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796(8))); (13) "LNG conversion" means conversions of natural gas into LNG (liquefaction or solidification) or the conversion of LNG into natural gas (vaporization); (14) "Existing LNG facility" means any LNG facility for which an application for the approval of the siting, construction, or operation of such facility was filed before March 1, 1978, with (A) the Department of Energy or any predecessor organization of the Department, or (B) the appropriate State or local agency, in the case of any facility not subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Energy under the Natural Gas Act, except that such term does not include any facility the construction of which commences on or after the date of the enactment of this paragraph and such construction is not pursuant to such an approval; (15) "New LNG facility" means any LNG facility other than an existing LNG facility; (16) "LNG accident" means any release, burning, or explosion of LNG resulting from— (A) a rupture or other failure of a storage tank, pipeline, or other LNG facility; (B) natural hazards (including earthquakes, hurricanes, and high winds); (C) sabotage; or (D) any other cause other than any such release, burning, or explosion which, as determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary, does not pose a threat to public health or safety, property, or the environment; and (17) "Interstate or foreign commerce" means any trade, traffic, transportation, exchange, or other commerce (A) between any State and any place outside of such State, or (B) which affects any trade, transportation, exchange, or other commerce described in subparagraph (A). [49 U.S.C. 1671] STANDARDS ESTABLISHED SEC. 3. (a)(1) The Secretary shall, by regulation, establish minimum Federal safety standards for the transportation of gas and pipeline facilities. Such standards may apply to the design, installation, inspection, emergency plans and procedures, testing, construction, extension, operation, replacement, and maintenance of pipeline facilities. Standards affecting the design, installation, construction, initial inspection, and initial testing shall not be applicable to |