PHMSA Publishes 30-day Pipeline ICR

The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration published a 30-day information collection request (ICR) in Monday’s Federal Register (78 FR 34703-34704; available on-line today) for their revision of the Gas Distribution Annual Report. This is a follow-up to the 60-day ICR published in February.

New Form Revisions

PHMSA received extensive comments from two industry organizations in response to the 60-day ICR. Those comments were received from

• American Gas Association

• American Public Gas Association

In response to those comments PHMSA made a number of revisions to the form or the instructions for filling out the form. Those revisions include:

• Part A, Section 6 – Change options for the operator type be consistent with those on Energy Information Agency Form EIA-176;

• Part B, Sections 1, 2 and 3 – Change to using the term “reconditioned cast iron” be used consistently in all three sections since that term is defined in the instructions;

• Part C – Change the leak cause definitions to improve clarity and make the definitions more consistent with how incident cause is reported on the gas distribution incident reporting form;

• Part D – Clarify that PHMSA is clarifying that it is seeking information on the “apparent root cause” of excavation damage;

• Part D – Change the instructions for Part D by incorporating the definitions developed by the Common Ground Alliance's DIRT program; and

• Part E – Clarify the data that PHMSA  is seeking on “Estimated Number of EFVs in System at End of Year.”

None of the above changes had any significant impact on the data collection and reporting burden place upon pipeline owners and operators.

Public Participation

As the changes above demonstrate PHMSA does pay attention to comments received from the regulated industry and other portions of the private sector. Comments do need to be submitted to have an impact. Additional public comments my be submitted directly to the Office of Management and Budget  (OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.go) on this request. Comments should be received at OMB by July 10^th.