We'll have more on this story as it develops, but  according to a document leaked to Drilled , language that would give legal liability to communications, energy, transport and water companies for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis was added to a draft of package #3 in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) a few days before that bill passed. It was removed before passage, but Senate sources have told Drilled News that a similar liability waiver for utilities is being considered for a forthcoming package.

The stricken section, labeled REMOVING LEGAL BARRIERS RELATING TO COOPERATING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE COVID-19 RESPONSE, would have granted legal immunity to comms, energy, transport and water companies for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, for example, if a pipeline leaked in the course of a “covered activity” (transporting oil or natural gas) as decreed by the President, who has already declared the oil and gas industry essential during the crisis, good luck trying to sue anyone for damages.

The energy industry has previously attempted to push legal liability as a condition of a carbon tax, arguing that it can’t deal with both a current tax and liability for past impacts at the same time. The language proposed as part of COVID-19 relief would only cover the period of time between regulatory relief and the end of the pandemic, ostensibly so that companies could not be held liable for not complying with regulations that have been paused, but activists are concerned that such language could be a slippery slope.