The legislation was submitted to Congress Wednesday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The proposal follows several major pipeline accidents. A Pacific Gas & Electric Co. gas pipeline explosion last week killed at least four people in suburban San Francisco and destroyed or severely damaged dozens of homes.
An oil spill from a pipeline owned by a Canadian company near Marshal, Mich., sent an estimated 820,000 to 1 million gallons spewing into the Kalamazoo River in late July.
