PHMSA Publishes GPAC Meeting Notice

Today the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a meeting notice in the Federal Register (82 FR 23714-23715) for a meeting of the Gas Pipeline

Advisory Committee (GPAC). The meeting will be held in Arlington, VA on June 6^th and 7^th, 2017. The meeting is open to the public.

The meeting will provide the advisory committee a chance to review the PHMSA rulemaking on the safe operation of gas transmission and gathering pipelines. The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) was published on April 8^th, 2016.

PHMSA is suggesting that people who wish to attend the meeting (no web cast is planned) should register no later than June 2^nd. People wishing to submit written comments may do so through the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # PHMSA-2016-0136). This is the same docket used to receive comments on the NPRM.

Commentary

While President Trump has been vociferously anti-regulation in general, there were a number of provisions in the NPRM that were specifically required by Congress, so in some form this rulemaking will proceed. It will be interesting to see if the GPAC is asked to provide suggestions for the two regulations that will presumably be revoked to allow this rulemaking to proceed.