WASHINGTON ? A bill to toughen federal safety regulation of oil and gas pipelines has passed the Senate after a Republican senator opposed to government regulation dropped his opposition to the measure.
The bill was approved late Monday only a few hours after Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky abruptly announced he was ending his opposition. He said in a statement that he was doing so because the bill's sponsors had agreed to incorporate an amendment regarding safety testing of older pipelines.
Paul previously had told the bill's supporters his opposition was based on a philosophical objection to new regulation.
The bill would increase penalties for safety violations, require the installation of automatic shut-off valves on new transmission lines and authorize more safety inspectors, among other provisions.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
In an about face, Sen. Rand Paul, one of Congress' most ardent foes of government regulation, has dropped his "hold" on a bill to toughen federal safety regulation of oil and gas pipelines, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Republican said Monday.
Paul agreed to drop his opposition to the measure after winning agreement from its sponsors to add an amendment to the bill to close a gap in regulations that allows older pipelines to escape safety testing requirements, Moira Bagley, Paul's spokeswoman, said. Paul has been the lone senator blocking consideration of the bill.
"I have found a way to address the problems more thoroughly through these regulations, while limiting their scope and unnecessary red tape," Paul said in a statement. "My proposal will be unanimously passed and accepted by both sides, further proving that my actions have enriched this legislation."
Paul, a tea party ally and anti-tax activist, was elected to the Senate last year in part on the strength of his opposition to new federal regulations.
Oil and gas pipeline industry officials and congressional aides told The Associated Press last month that Paul and his staff had explained privately that he was blocking efforts to pass the bill using unanimous consent procedures that avoid a lengthy debate because he is opposed in principle to its expansion of federal regulation.
Paul and his staff had told them he had no specific objections to related to pipeline safety, but he felt that at a minimum an expansion of federal regulations should receive a thorough debate by the entire Senate, industry officials and congressional aides said.
But as a practical matter, important but lesser measures like pipeline safety regulations that can't be approved quickly wind up languishing indefinitely because Senate leaders must conserve valuable debate time for other must-pass bills.
After his opposition to the measure was publicized, Paul issued a statement saying he wasn't satisfied with the safety provisions of the bill. His latest statement also said he was dissatisfied that the bill was written before the National Transportation Safety Board had published its report on a natural gas pipeline rupture near San Francisco last year that killed eight people, injured dozens more and damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved the bill in May without opposition. It would authorize more federal safety inspectors, and pipeline companies would have to confirm that their records on how much pressure their pipelines can tolerate are accurate.
Under the bill, federal regulators could order that automatic shutoff valves be installed on new pipelines so leaks can be halted sooner. And it directs regulators to determine whether mandatory inspections of aging pipelines in densely populated areas should be expanded to include lines in rural areas. It would be paid for by industry fees.
The bill is supported by the industry's major trade associations ? the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the American Gas Association and the Association of Oil Pipelines ? as well as the Pipeline Safety Trust, a safety advocacy group.
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