House Energy and Commerce Committee Passes Pipeline Safety Bill

The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce on July 21 voted 41–8 to advance H.R. 9338, the Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026, to the full House.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed H.R. 5301, Promoting Innovation in Pipeline Efficiency and Safety (PIPES) Act of 2025 in September of last year. In April of this year, the U.S. Senate passed S. 2975, the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025 by unanimous consent.

As the national association advocating for public policies that prevent damage to buried utilities, the Damage Prevention Action Center (DPAct) applauds the Energy and Commerce Committee’s action as an important step toward strengthening America’s underground infrastructure safety and damage prevention framework. DPAct urges Congress to build on the bipartisan consensus reflected in the House committee vote and the Senate-passed legislation.

Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, Executive Director of DPAct, issued the following statement: “We applaud the House Energy and Commerce Committee for advancing this important legislation. H.R. 9338 strengthens state damage prevention programs by limiting exemptions for the 811 process, encouraging greater use of GIS technology and improved enforcement and reporting, and represents meaningful progress to keep American communities safe and connected. These reforms will help prevent damage to the critical buried infrastructure on which all Americans rely. We urge the full House to pass the bill and Congress to complete its work.”

In June, DPAct sent a letter to the House Energy & Commerce Committee urging support for the legislation. The letter was sent to Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), as well as Subcommittee on Energy Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH) and Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL). DPAct reiterated its support yesterday in a letter to Chairman Guthrie and Ranking Member Pallone.

H.R. 9338 contains key provisions that would help reduce damage to buried utilities, including:

• Requiring states to adopt leading practices that examine and limit exemptions from one-call notification requirements, including exemptions for municipalities, public-works organizations and state departments of transportation conducting road maintenance.
• Requiring newly installed underground facilities to be locatable and encouraging technologies incorporating geographic information systems and positive response.
• Strengthening state accountability by considering effective, active and consistent enforcement and damage data reporting when evaluating state damage-prevention programs.

Background
The Common Ground Alliance’s 2025 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report analyzed 221,717 unique damage reports from the United States and Canada —roughly one report every three minutes. Excavation-related damage can cause service outages, injuries and fatalities. A separate CGA analysis estimated that the societal cost of excavation-related damage in the United States totaled more than $30 billion annually.

DPAct urges Congress to enact a strong, bipartisan pipeline safety and damage prevention bill that reflects the best elements of both chambers’ work and delivers practical protections for excavators, utilities, pipeline operators and the communities they serve.

Source: Damage Prevention Action Center