Sen. Paul to meet with pipeline officials over bill he’s blocking

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is planning to meet with National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials Wednesday to discuss pipeline safety legislation that he is blocking in the Senate.

The Kentucky senator has a procedural “hold” on the bill, upsetting California senators who say the legislation is needed in the wake of a 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., that killed eight people.

{mosads}But Paul, in a statement Tuesday, said he’s not yet convinced the bill is the answer and plans to meet with the NTSB, which probed last year’s accident.

“It is a disservice to the families of the victims of the San Bruno pipeline incident to not carefully read this legislation before demanding it be passed without sufficient debate or vote,” Paul said in a statement to The Hill.

“I have serious concerns about whether older pipelines, such as the one at San Bruno, will be grandfathered in and exempt from the regulations presented in this bill. I am meeting tomorrow with experts on this incident from the NTSB and will ask for specific answers on this issue,” he said.

The bill unanimously cleared the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in May.

Paul, however, is blocking the measure, arguing that he’s concerned a bill that creates new federal regulations would be fast-tracked through the Senate without enough discussion.

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