S.Amdt. 68

1. Adds SEC. ___. COMMUNITY RIGHT TO PROTECT LOCAL WATER SUPPLIES wherever appropriate

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. ___. COMMUNITY RIGHT TO PROTECT LOCAL WATER SUPPLIES.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--

   Inserted: (1) there are 2,537 wells within 1 mile of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, including 39 public water supply wells and 20 private wells within 100 feet of the pipeline right of way;

   Inserted: (2) 254 miles of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would traverse over the shallow Ogallala Aquifer, the largest underground fresh water source in the United States, underlying 8 States and 2,000,000 people, including 10.5 miles where the groundwater lies at depths between 5 and 10 feet and another 12.4 miles where the water table is at a depth of 10 to 15 feet;

   Inserted: (3) on July 26, 2010, a pipeline ruptured near Marshall, Michigan, releasing 843,000 gallons of tar sands diluted bitumen into Talmadge Creek, flowing into the Kalamazoo River;

   Inserted: (4) the Talmadge Creek tar sands spill is the costliest inland oil spill cleanup in United States history, and the Kalamazoo River continues to be contaminated from the spill;

   Inserted: (5) on March 29, 2013, the first pipeline of the United States to transport Canadian tar sands to the Gulf Coast, the ExxonMobil Pegasus Pipeline, ruptured, spilling 210,000 gallons of tar sands diluted bitumen in Mayflower, Arkansas; and

   Inserted: (6) following the Pegasus Pipeline tar sands spill, individuals in the Mayflower community experienced severe headaches, nausea, and respiratory infections.

   Inserted: (b) Petition to Protect Local Water Supplies.--

   Inserted: (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and prior to construction of the pipeline described in section 2(a), the President, or the designee of the President, shall provide to each municipality or county that relies on drinking water from a source that may be affected by a tar sands spill from the pipeline an analysis of the potential risks to public health and the environment from a leak or rupture of that pipeline.

   Inserted: (2) Notification to governors.--The President shall provide a copy of the analysis described in paragraph (1) to the Governor of each State in which an affected municipality or county is located.

   Inserted: (3) Effect on construction.--Construction of the pipeline described in section 2(a) may not begin if the Governor of a State with an affected municipality or county submits, not later than 30 days after receiving an analysis under paragraph (2), a petition to the President requesting that the pipeline not be located in the affected municipality or county.

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   Inserted: (4) Withdrawal.--A Governor may withdraw a petition submitted under paragraph (3) at any time.

   Inserted: (5) Right of action.--A property owner with a private water well drilled into any portion of an aquifer that is below the proposed pipeline described in section 2(a) may sue the owner of the pipeline for damages if--

   Inserted: (A) the well water of the property owner becomes contaminated; and

   Inserted: (B) the property owner demonstrates that the well water was safe prior to construction and operation of the pipeline.

   The amendment doesn't say where this goes; the clerk decides.

   Original wording

   At the appropriate place, insert the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed