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Committee advances bill to assert state primacy over certain pipeline penalties
Summary
House Bill 294 would allow Idaho to adjudicate penalties for pipeline safety violations at the state level, aligning state enforcement with federal maximum civil-penalty amounts. The committee approved the bill and the Idaho Public Utilities Commission said it would not need additional staff to assume primacy.
Rep. Jaren Crane (R‑Nampa) introduced House Bill 294, describing it as a federalism measure to restore or assert Idaho’s authority over pipeline safety enforcement and penalties.
“We will restore Idaho’s authority over the pipeline safety, its enforcement and we’re going to ensure that we maintain local state control over those pipelines,” Crane said. He told the committee the bill strikes the state penalty language and instead brings Idaho into compliance with federal penalty standards while allowing the state to adjudicate penalties.
A committee member asked what the federal penalties look like; Crane said the federal maximum civil penalty is $200,000 per violation, up to $2,000,000 for related series of violations. Maria Barrett Riley, executive director of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, testified that assuming primacy would not impose incremental resource requirements on the commission: "No, absolutely not. Our FTEs are at 3, we have 2 and a half inspectors with 1 program manager … nothing would change, just that we would have primacy and flexibility and control."
There were no witnesses recorded in opposition. The committee voted to send HB 294 to the House floor with a due‑pass recommendation; Representative Scott asked to be recorded as voting no. The committee recorded the motion as carried by voice vote.
Next steps: the bill will proceed to the House floor for further consideration. The committee hearing did not record any amendments or a roll-call tally beyond the single recorded no vote.
