LINES Act

Liability Insurance in Event of Spill Act or the LINES Act

This bill amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to cap the liability of parties that are responsible for oil discharges from a Great Lakes pipeline (any pipeline that crosses the navigable waters of the Great Lakes system) to the total of all removal costs plus $75 million.

A responsible party with respect to a Great Lakes pipeline must establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility (e.g., evidence of insurance or a bond) in a certain amount.

Under current law, the Department of Transportation (DOT) may issue an emergency order to impose restrictions, prohibitions, and safety measures on owners and operators of gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facilities without prior notice or an opportunity for a hearing if they are necessary to abate an imminent hazard. This bill eliminates DOT's emergency order authority with respect to gas pipeline facilities.

The bill expands DOT's emergency order authority with respect to hazardous liquid pipeline facilities, including by allowing DOT to impose restrictions, prohibitions, and safety measures if it: (1) discovers reliable evidence that the pipeline is violating conditions required for its operation that were previously agreed upon between the responsible party and a state, tribal, or local government; or (2) determines, after consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard, that inadequate resources are available to respond to and clean up an oil spill during seasonal conditions or conditions expected or caused by an extreme weather event, or the responsible party cannot demonstrate that it has sufficient financial resources to satisfy the liability limits in the event of an oil spill incident.