Coast Guard Bill Takes Key Steps to Ensure Safety Zone Surrounding Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals

Press Release

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) commented on House passage of Coast Guard Authorization legislation to provide increased resources to strengthen the Coast Guard's ability to protect ports, waterways and the maritime transportation system. Additionally, the bill takes steps to ensure the safety of Liquefied Natural Gas terminals by setting into law the Coast Guard's practice of establishing and maintaining safety zones around these facilities.

This is of interest to Connecticut , in light of the multi-year effort to prevent the placement of a Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal in the Long Island Sound. While the Broadwater proposal was recently stymied, this bill would have created additional steps to guarantee that the Coast Guard has the resources so they can monitor activities in or near these facilities, as well as in-bound and out-bound tankers.

"Clearly, security concerns over the placement of Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals are not exclusive to Connecticut . These terminals and the resulting tanker traffic will place additional strain on our Coast Guard and I welcome the provisions in this bill that ensure the Coast Guard has the resources they need before adding to their responsibilities. Protecting the American public must be our highest priority," said DeLauro.

Specific to Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals, the bill requires the following:

- Requires the Homeland Security Department to submit a report to Congress that analyzes the threat, vulnerability, and consequences of a terrorist attack on LNG shipments in port areas.

- Says that the Coast Guard is responsible for enforcing security zones around LNG tankers and that it must allocate necessary resources to do it. It requires the Coast Guard to certify that state or local governments have the necessary resources and training before they can assist in security patrols around facilities.

- For terminals that have already begun construction, the bill requires Homeland Security to determine that the Coast Guard has the necessary resources to carry out security measures before Homeland Security approves a security plan.

- The bill authorizes Homeland Security to establish a minimum limit of liability of $12 million for LNG ports. And it requires the Coast Guard to assess the risks of regasification occurring within 3 miles of land and more than 3 miles from land.

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