WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) on November 30, 2011, introduced legislation to protect Kansans from the threat of explosions by allowing states to monitor underground natural gas storage in the absence of federal action.

We have already lost two lives in Hutchinson in a 2001 explosion, Roberts said. The threat is real. Our first priority is to protect citizens from harm. We need strong oversight and in this case, I want it to be the state. I trust our folks there on the ground to protect their fellow Kansans from what could be a real tragedy if ignored.

The federal government has failed to accept responsibility for monitoring the safety of natural gas storage sites in Kansas, after a federal court judge prevented the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) from carrying out those duties, Moran said. This legislation would simply give the KCC the ability to ensure the safety of Kansas citizens when the federal government fails to act.

At issue is a 2009 District Court ruling that determined Kansas, through the KCC, could not monitor its own storage fields if the gas in those facilities is in interstate transportation.

In the two years since the ruling, the state has been barred from inspecting storage sites, and the federal government, specifically the Department of Transportations (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has not acted, leaving the sites unmonitored.

In Kansas, there are 11 interstate underground storage sites containing over 270 billion cubic feet of gas.

There is simply a gap in jurisdictions and oversight, Roberts said. We ought to close that gap before an accident happens that takes another life or damages property. In the absence of clear federal action, it is the commonsense thing to do to allow states to step in.

The bill will allow states to monitor the wellbores in interstate underground gas storage facilities. A states inspection plan may be approved by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

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