Healing the Hazards - A Proposal for Legislation

A Proposal for legislation 

by 

Earth Hub 

Koch Truths & Green Fields Renewal

Written by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster and Dave Lincoln

Title of Bill: Healing the Hazards – Minimizing the Impact of Toxic Events

Be It Enacted By The United States Congress

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 44 49 50 1 2 3 4 5

Preamble: Whereas, Toxic Events caused by Petroleum Companies which, as a part of their business model move highly hazardous materials across private and public lands by pipe, train, and truck, have been responsible for an increased number of Toxic Events, resulting in damage done to people, property, communities and the land, air and water on which their communities are sited and Whereas, the Petroleum Industry routinely and intentionally has withheld essential information on the contents of the materials they ship, these delays often lasting until any threat of legal action ends, and Whereas, these actions on their parts includes lying about the gravity of the potential for harm, when directly asked; suborning local authorities; manipulating events so as to put themselves in control of purported clean up efforts which instead focus on disguising the actual damage done, and feeding false information to the media and authorities, putting victims at further risk through their failure to handle their business in a responsible fashion, and Whereas, many of these corporations evade even the secondary accountability of having to find an insurance carrier who would objectively assess these incidents for the real potential for liability, and Whereas Congress has the obligation to maintain a legal system which is not subject to manipulation by corporations and ensure commerce which takes place between the states does so in ways which ensure the security of people's health and well being and that our Nation's land, air, and water are clean, SECTION 1: Petroleum Companies engaged in the transport of those materials from which their products are produced or materials, such as Benzene, Toluene, and Hydrogen Sulfide, which are used to make such transport possible will, with the oversight of a designated third party, to be determined by the HHOC, install and maintain a system for monitoring the contents of their pipelines which will produce every minute an analysis of the specific materials then flowing through the pipes. All transport of the 2.6 million miles of pipelines will be monitored using the HHOC system to ensure all Tar Sands are HHOC monitored. estimated quarterly payments to be placed in an account to be overseen by                                 Sub-SECTION A: This system will be paid for by the subject company with                                   the Healing Hazards Oversight Committee. The HHOC will be headed by                                 three individuals with impeccable credentials. For this purpose we                                             propose for appointment Tom Steyer, Jimmy Carter, and Dr. Patrick                                             Soon-Shiong. Further appointments, and all deliberations, made by the                                             HHOC, will be  publicly available via streaming over the Internet. SECTION 2: Direct oversight and maintenance of the system will be carried out by a yet to be designated third party, to be chosen by the committee named above, who will oversee and maintain an internet system which provides alarms in the case of a decrease of pressure, rupture, or other indicative event. Sub-SECTION A: This information, formatted for use with a system like, equivalent to, or better than, the ALOHA system, available through the Office of the U.S. Office of Response and Restoration.                                  Sub-SECTION B: ALOHA is a Software Suite of programs                                  designed and provided for public use by the which is used in                                  this application, will provide essential information on hazards                                   to local communities for Toxic Events which are not caused by                                   material stored within the community, as was the case for the                                   Green Book, produced by Emergency Planning and Community                                   Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). SECTION 3: Lacking this information, it has proven impossible to provide adequate medical intervention for people who are affected by Toxic Events or to reduce the long term effects on victims and their property, creating a liability which the victims have been forced to pay, causing financial hardship and bankruptcy in many instances.                                   Sub-SECTION A: Petroleum Companies will become responsible for all                                   medical expenses for victims of Toxic Events which they caused from the                                   time the spill begins until each victim has been examined by specialists in                                   remediation therapies and the case has been signed off by the specialists                                   and the victim.                                   Sub-SECTION B: Subject Petroleum Companies will no longer be allowed                                   to self-insure as this perpetuates the strategies itemized above.                                   Sub-SECTION C: Damage to property, including pets and livestock and                                   buildings, will be assessed by a third party to be named by the HHOC                                   and restitution in full made for damage done using the assessments thus                                   provided. SECTION 4: Within 24 hours of a Toxic Event having occurred a Qualified Settlement Trust (468B), will be established to organize and strengthen the negotiating position for victims, allowing for a negotiated settlement which will act in the best interests of all parties.  This provides transparency, with direct court supervision, allowing for costs to be paid before final settlement and, finally, provides individual flexibility within an umbrella trust.                                       Sub-SECTION A: Tar Sands, which have proven to be highly volatile,                                     explosive, and toxic, will categorized as included under the Oil Spill                                      Liability Trust Fund. This allows access to funds specifically                                      made available for clean up after oil spills and should have                                      been available for Tar Sands long before now. SECTION 5: There are between 2.5 and 2.6 million miles of pipelines in the US which are used to transport petroleum products. Many of these lines are aging, increasing the hazard of ruptures either caused by deterioration or human accident or natural disasters. The materials used to build pipelines, subject to deterioration, need to be manufactured from the strongest and longest lasting material available.                                        Sub-Section A: Ultrahigh Performance Concrete has been                                        named by the Department of Homeland Security as the best                                        material for infrastructure construction and repair.                                          Therefore, any pipeline which suffers a rupture on any                                         section will be closed until replacement with UHPC is                                         completed and a third party inspection to be determined by                                        the HHOC has taken place. SECTION 6: Transport of Tar Sands by rail and truck will no longer be allowed within the United States unless a similar system for monitoring is used and linked in to the HH System. Enactment Clause: This bill shall go into effect 61 days after passage.