Great Lakes Oil Spill Prevention Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Great Lakes Oil Spill Prevention Act
This bill establishes requirements for petroleum pipelines that cross the navigable waters of the Great Lakes system.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation must meet certain reporting requirements regarding Great Lakes pipelines.
Owners and operators of Great Lakes pipelines must:
adhere to certain maintenance standards,
perform certain safety tests,
report on violations of the standards and correct violations by specified deadlines,
repair corroded pipelines and ensure that the pipelines cease to transmit petroleum until they are repaired, and
replace aging pipelines by specified deadlines.
The bill establishes civil penalties for a delay in correcting violations, a failure to report violations, and a failure to meet a deadline to replace aging pipes.
The bill increases the liability of pipeline operators or owners who are responsible for discharges of oil pollution from pipelines into the Great Lakes. Responsible parties must establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility sufficient to meet the maximum amount of liability to which the party may be subjected.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 12, 2018. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on January 16, 2018: Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mike Bishop (R-MI) introduced it on January 12, 2018. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 12, 2018, 3163 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3159 days ago, on January 16, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers