H.Res. 214 — Introduced in House

IV 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 214 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 15, 2013 Mr. Weber of Texas (for himself, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Hall, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Stockman, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Schweikert, and Mr. Stewart) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that extensive scientific and technical studies and analyses by the Department of State and other Federal agencies have affirmed that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline is an environmentally sound project. Whereas safe and responsible production, transportation, and use of oil and petroleum products provide the foundation of America’s energy economy, helping to secure and advance our economic prosperity, national security, and overall quality of life; Whereas Department of State assessments found that the Keystone XL pipeline is not likely to impact the amount of crude oil produced from the oil sands and that approval or denial of the proposed Project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands; Whereas the Department of State found that the incremental life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the Keystone XL project are estimated in the range of 0.07 to 0.83 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, with the upper end of this range representing twelve one-thousandths of one percent of the 6,702 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted in the United States in 2011; Whereas after extensive evaluation of potential impacts to land and water resources along the Keystone XL pipeline’s 875 mile proposed route, the Department of State found that The analyses of potential impacts associated with construction and normal operation of the proposed Project suggest that there would be no significant impacts to most resources along the proposed Project route (assuming Keystone complies with all laws and required conditions and measures).; Whereas transportation of oil via pipeline has a record of unmatched safety and environmental protection, and the Department of State found that Spills associated with the proposed Project that enter the environment are expected to be rare and relatively small, and that there is no evidence of increased corrosion or other pipeline threat due to viscosity of diluted bitumen oil that will be transported by the Keystone XL pipeline; and Whereas plans to incorporate 57 project-specific special conditions related to the design, construction, and operations of the Keystone XL pipeline led the Department of State to find that the pipeline will have a degree of safety over any other typically constructed domestic oil pipeline: Now, therefore, be it That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Government’s exhaustive scientific and technical analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline have repeatedly affirmed the environmental soundness and safety of the proposed project.