T&I and E&C Committee Leaders Applaud Senate Passage of Bipartisan Pipeline Safety Bill Washington, DC - With today’s Senate passage of the PIPES Act – bipartisan legislation to strengthen pipeline safety, clarify safety oversight efforts, and provide greater regulatory certainty in the transportation of energy commodities – the four-year reauthorization of the federal pipeline safety program now heads to the president to be signed into law. In the House, the work of negotiating the final measure approved today (House amendment to S. 2276) was spearheaded by leaders of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee.  The House unanimously passed the bill last week. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Denham (R-CA), and Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Ranking Member Michael Capuano (D-MA) joined Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and Energy and Power Subcommittee Ranking Member Bobby Rush (D-IL) in releasing the following statement:  “Although pipelines are by and large out of sight to most Americans, their safe, reliable operation is critical to our economy and to our daily lives.  The improvements included in the PIPES Act will advance the safety of the energy transportation network, and strengthen the transparency and efficiency of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration that oversees the federal pipeline safety program.  We came together, Republicans and Democrats, and got the job done to boost pipeline safety.”