(a) Risk Management Program Demonstration Projects.—

(1) In general.—The Secretary shall establish risk management demonstration projects—

(A) to demonstrate, through the voluntary participation by owners and operators of gas pipeline facilities and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities, the application of risk management; and

(B) to evaluate the safety and cost-effectiveness of the program.

(2) Exemptions.—In carrying out a demonstration project under this subsection, the Secretary, by order—

(A) may exempt an owner or operator of the pipeline facility covered under the project (referred to in this subsection as a “covered pipeline facility”), from the applicability of all or a portion of the requirements under this chapter that would otherwise apply to the covered pipeline facility; and

(B) shall exempt, for the period of the project, an owner or operator of the covered pipeline facility, from the applicability of any new standard that the Secretary promulgates under this chapter during the period of that participation, with respect to the covered facility.

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(b) Requirements.—In carrying out a demonstration project under this section, the Secretary shall—

(1) invite owners and operators of pipeline facilities to submit risk management plans for timely approval by the Secretary;

(2) require, as a condition of approval, that a risk management plan submitted under this subsection contain measures that are designed to achieve an equivalent or greater overall level of safety than would otherwise be achieved through compliance with the standards contained in this chapter or promulgated by the Secretary under this chapter;

(3) provide for—

(A) collaborative government and industry training;

(B) methods to measure the safety performance of risk management plans;

(C) the development and application of new technologies;

(D) the promotion of community awareness concerning how the overall level of safety will be maintained or enhanced by the demonstration project;

(E) the development of models that categorize the risks inherent to each covered pipeline facility, taking into consideration the location, volume, pressure, and material transported or stored by that pipeline facility;

(F) the application of risk assessment and risk management methodologies that are suitable to the inherent risks that are determined to exist through the use of models developed under subparagraph (E);

(G) the development of project elements that are necessary to ensure that—

(i) the owners and operators that participate in the demonstration project demonstrate that they are effectively managing the risks referred to in subparagraph (E); and

(ii) the risk management plans carried out under the demonstration project under this subsection can be audited;

(H) a process whereby an owner or operator of a pipeline facility is able to terminate a risk management plan or, with the approval of the Secretary, to amend, modify, or otherwise adjust a risk management plan referred to in paragraph (1) that has been approved by the Secretary pursuant to that paragraph to respond to—

(i) changed circumstances; or

(ii) a determination by the Secretary that the owner or operator is not achieving an overall level of safety that is at least equivalent to the level that would otherwise be achieved through compliance with the standards contained in this chapter or promulgated by the Secretary under this chapter;

(I) such other elements as the Secretary, with the agreement of the owners and operators that participate in the demonstration project under this section, determines to further the purposes of this section; and

(J) an opportunity for public comment in the approval process; and

(4) in selecting participants for the demonstration project, take into consideration the past safety and regulatory performance of each applicant who submits a risk management plan pursuant to paragraph (1).

(c) Emergencies and Revocations.—Nothing in this section diminishes or modifies the Secretary’s authority under this title to act in case of an emergency. The Secretary may revoke any exemption granted under this section for substantial noncompliance with the terms and conditions of an approved risk management plan.

(d) Participation by State Authority.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary may provide for consultation by a State that has in effect a certification under section 60105. To the extent that a demonstration project comprises an intrastate natural gas pipeline or an intrastate hazardous liquid pipeline facility, the Secretary may make an agreement with the State agency to carry out the duties of the Secretary for approval and administration of the project.

(e) Report.—Not later than March 31, 2000, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress a report on the results of the demonstration projects carried out under this section that includes—

(1) an evaluation of each such demonstration project, including an evaluation of the performance of each participant in that project with respect to safety and environmental protection; and

(2) recommendations concerning whether the applications of risk management demonstrated under the demonstration project should be incorporated into the Federal pipeline safety program under this chapter on a permanent basis.