GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

S	1 

SENATE BILL 332

Short Title:  Gas Pipeline Safety Amendment.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Smith.
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Referred to:  Public Utilities.
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March 2, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CONFORM STATE GAS PIPELINE STANDARDS TO THE NEWLY ENACTED AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL NATURAL GAS PIPELINE SAFETY ACT OF 1968.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 62-50(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The Commission is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with the United States Department of Transportation and other federal agencies and with other states or public utilities commissions of other states for the regulation of natural gas pipelines located within the State of North Carolina and upon the execution of such cooperative agreements, the Commission is authorized to utilize Commission personnel for inspection, investigation, and regulation of safety standards for interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines in North Carolina, and to share in the cost of such regulation with other agencies having duties with respect to the regulation of said natural gas pipelines, and to receive funds from the United States Department of Transportation for such regulation.  The Commission may use Commission personnel to inspect and investigate all gas incidents, facilities, and records kept pursuant to the provisions of 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 191, 192, and 193, and to cooperate with other state and federal agencies in determining the probable cause or causes of gas incidents.  Any information obtained during an investigation of a gas incident shall be reduced to writing and a report containing that information shall be filed with the Chief Clerk of the Commission and the report shall be subject to public inspection but the report shall not be admissible in evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding arising from the incident."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 62-50(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Any person who violates any provision of this section, or any regulation of the Utilities Commission issued thereunder, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation for each day that the violation persists, the maximum civil penalty not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for any continuing violation."
Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon ratification.