§60302 User Fees for Underground Natural Gas Storage Facilities

Summary

Operators of underground natural gas storage facilities covered by section 60141 must pay a fee. The fee must be collected before the end of the fiscal year it applies to. The Secretary of Transportation will write the rules for collecting the fee. The Secretary can hire a federal, state, or local agency to collect it and may pay that agency a reasonable amount for the work. Fees go into the Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility Safety Account inside the Pipeline Safety Fund in the Treasury (section 60301). The money can only be used for safety activities for facilities under section 60141. Fees cannot be collected unless Congress has already approved spending them in an appropriations Act.