PHMSA ANPRM – On-Shore Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

In Monday’s Federal Register (published on-line on Saturday) the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is publishing an advance notice of proposed rule making (ANPRM) dealing with the safety of on-shore hazardous pipelines. PHMSA is considering updating/changing their regulations in six areas. Those areas include (75 FR 63774-5):

• “Scope of the pipeline safety regulations and existing regulatory exceptions,
• “The criteria for designation as a High Consequence Area (HCA),
• “Leak detection and Emergency Flow Restricting Devices (EFRD),
• “Valve spacing,
• “Repair criteria in non-HCA areas, and,
• “Stress corrosion Cracking (SCC).”

PHMSA is seeking public comment on the need, scope and extent of the changes in these six specific areas. Public comments may be posted to the Federal eRulemaking Portal (Docket Number PHMSA-2010-0229). Comments need to be posted by January 18, 2011.