Steve Cohen: “This amendment would require that TransCanada and any future owner-operator of the Keystone XL pipeline, if there be…”

“This amendment would require that TransCanada and any future owner-operator of the Keystone XL pipeline, if there be one, submit its oil spill response plan to the Governor of each State in which the pipeline operates. I'm well aware that current law requires the Department of Transportation to maintain on file current copies of oil spill response plans and provide any person a copy of that plan. However, those copies are allowed by law to exclude certain information like specific response resources, tactical resource deployment plans, and information on worst-case scenario discharges. I understand there are concerns about broad distribution of these plans and this proprietary information, but those concerns should not apply to Governors of the States--people like Mary Fallin and Nathan Deal, who many of us have served with--States that this very pipeline would run through. These States have the right to evaluate oil spill response plans in detail, integrate it into their respective emergency management systems, and then provide the necessary resources for appropriate emergency response plans. Reliance upon some redacted plan they would receive from the Federal Government is not adequate. People's lives and livelihoods are at stake, and locals work together on these situations.…”