{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-and-warren-and-reps-trahan-and-moulton-applaud-inclusion-of-leonel-rondon-pipeline-safety-act-in-year-end-spending-bill", "Senators Markey and Warren and Reps. Trahan and Moulton Applaud Inclusion of Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act in Year-End Spending BillRead More", "2020-12-22", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Edward Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Massachusetts\r\nlawmakers introduced legislation in the wake of Merrimack Valley gas explosion Washington\r\n(December 22, 2020)  Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the\r\nCommerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren\r\n(D-Mass.), and Representatives Lori Trahan (MA-03) and Seth Moulton (MA-08)\r\napplauded the inclusion of their Leonel Rondon\r\nPipeline Safety Act as part of the year-end spending\r\npackage. The lawmakers introduced the legislation in response to the\r\ncatastrophic gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts on September\r\n13, 2018, which resulted in the death of 18-year-old Leonel Rondon, dozens of\r\ninjuries, damage to more than 100 homes, and thousands of homes left without\r\nnatural gas service for months. Passage\r\nof the Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act pays honor and tribute to the life of\r\nLeonel Rondon and serves as a small justice for the Merrimack Valley community,\r\nsaid Senator Markey. The natural gas explosions that struck Lawrence,\r\nAndover, and North Andover more than two years ago were yet another example of\r\ncorporations cutting corners to turn a profit. The passage of this legislation\r\nis a critical step in ensuring that we prioritize public safety over corporate\r\nprofit and never allow a tragic disaster like this to happen again. I thank\r\nSenators Wicker, Cantwell, Fischer and Duckworth, and Chairmen Pallone and\r\nDeFazio for their leadership on this legislation.   The\r\nMerrimack Valley pipeline explosions could have been completely avoided if\r\nColumbia Gas executives had valued safety over profits, said Senator\r\nWarren. The passing of the Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act honors the\r\nmemory of a young man killed by the reckless gas explosion and will strengthen\r\nregulatory safety laws to help prevent disasters like this from happening\r\nagain.  More\r\nthan two years after the tragic and preventable Merrimack Valley gas explosions\r\nimpacted thousands of families in Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover, our\r\nlegislation to prevent another disaster like this is finally on the cusp of\r\nbecoming law, said Rep. Trahan. For too long, outdated and\r\ninsufficient safety regulations have failed the communities they were supposed\r\nto protect. Today's passage of the Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act will apply\r\nthe many lessons taken from this tragedy  including those informed by NTSB's\r\nexperts  to ensure that no community ever has to experience this type of\r\nterrible devastation again.  Leonel\r\nRondon's death was preventable, and no family in America should lose their son\r\nor daughter because of a pipeline disaster, said Rep. Moulton. The\r\nLeonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act will allow Congress to start holding\r\ncompanies like Columbia Gas responsible for the safety of their customers. It's\r\na first step to help restore peace of mind in communities across the country\r\nwho are living in fear that their home, school or business is going to explode\r\nbecause the people responsible for preventing pipeline accidents are asleep at\r\nthe switch.  Specifically,\r\nthe provisions from the legislation that are included in the year-end spending\r\nbill:  \r\n Improve\r\nemergency response coordination with the public and first responders,\r\nensuring information is shared and residents are not left in the dark\r\n Require\r\nthe use of qualified employees, such as professional engineers, to approve\r\ngas engineering plans or significant changes to the system\r\n Promote\r\nbest industry practices for holistic safety management\r\n Mandate\r\non-site monitoring of gas system pressure by qualified employees during\r\nconstruction so that a dangerous situation can be stopped before it\r\nhappens\r\n Require\r\nregulator stations  which are critical to preventing over-pressurizations\r\n to be configured in such a way so that there are technological\r\nredundancies tha can keep disasters from taking place\r\n Require\r\nnatural gas distribution system operators to assemble traceable, reliable,\r\nand complete maps and records of key pressure controls of the pipeline\r\nsystem, and to ensure that those records are accessible for anyone doing\r\nconstruction or engineering work on the system.\r\n  We\r\nwant to thank Senator Markey and Congresswoman Trahan for putting forth this\r\nlegislation, focused on creating safer living environments for all Americans,\r\nmaking it so that the tragedies faced in the Merrimack Valley won't ever happen\r\nanywhere else, said Mayor Daniel Rivera of Lawrence. The Merrimack\r\nValley Gas Explosion was an example of an egregious oversight for corporate\r\ngain and showed how much work needed to be done to create equitable living\r\nstandards. These provisions directed towards this work will improve\r\naccountability, emergency response, and on-site monitoring in all matters\r\nrelating to pipeline safety.   I\r\nwant to thank the federal delegation for their landmark legislation to hold\r\npublic utility companies accountable, strengthen safety standards, and prevent\r\nnatural gas disasters in the future, said Senator Barry Finegold\r\n(D-Andover). The Columbia Gas explosions devastated our local community. A\r\nyoung man lost his life, families spent months homeless, and many lost all\r\ntheir belongings. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with state and\r\nfederal officials to increase regulatory oversight of the natural gas industry\r\nand help the Merrimack Valley recover from the Columbia Gas tragedy.  We\r\nare deeply grateful to Sen. Markey for his leadership on this bill, which will\r\ncreate new safety and environmental rules for the pipeline industry, Elgie\r\nHolstein, Sr. Director for Strategic Planning at the Environmental Defense\r\nFund. It will mean more protection for people living near natural gas\r\npipelines and less gas leaking into the environment and contributing to climate\r\nchange.   The\r\nPipeline Safety Trust is thrilled the PIPES Bill has been passed, said Bill\r\nCaram, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust. Along with\r\nproviding more funding for PHMSA, we are happy to see progress being made on\r\npublic transparency. We are also pleased that for the first time,\r\noperators will need to address the serious environmental effects from pipelines\r\nthat, up until now, have been allowed to leak methane as a regular course of\r\nbusiness.  On\r\nNovember 26, 2018, Senator Markey hosted a Senate Commerce Committee field\r\nhearing gin Lawrence with Senator Warren, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.),\r\nCongresswoman Trahan, then Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (MA-03), Congressman\r\nMoulton.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-and-warren-and-reps-trahan-and-moulton-applaud-inclusion-of-leonel-rondon-pipeline-safety-act-in-year-end-spending-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0615529026836157, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}