PHMSA Publishes Gas Pipeline Deregulation NPRM

Today the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (85 FR 35240-35254) concerning “Gas Pipeline Regulatory Reform”. The proposed changes to the Pipeline Safety Regulations (PSR) are intended to ease regulatory burdens on the construction, maintenance and operation of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipeline systems.

PSR Changes

The proposed amendments include:

• Provide flexibility in the inspection requirements for farm taps,

• Repeal distribution integrity management program (DIMP) requirements for master meter operators,

• Repeal submission requirements for the mechanical fitting failure (MFF) reports,

• Adjust the monetary damage threshold for reporting incidents for inflation,

• Allow remote monitoring of rectifier stations,

• Revise the inspection interval for monitoring atmospheric corrosion on gas distribution service pipelines,

• Update the design standard for polyethylene (PE) pipe and raise the maximum diameter limit,

• Revise test requirements for pressure vessels consistent with American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME BPVC),

• Revise welder requalification requirements to provide scheduling flexibility, and

• Extend the allowance for pre-tested short segments of pipe and fabricated units to pipelines operating at a hoop stress less than 30 percent of the specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) and above 100 pounds per square inch (psi).

Information Collection Requests

This NPRM would require changes to four currently approved information collection requests. Those are listed below.

• 2137-0635 Incident Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators,

• 2137-0522 Annual and Incident Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators,

• 2137-0625 Integrity Management Program for Gas Distribution, and

• 2137-0629 Annual Report for Gas Distribution Operators

NOTE: The NPMR incorrectly lists the titles for:

• 2137-0635 as “Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators”,

• 2137-0522 as “Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators”, and

• 2137-0629 as “Gas Distribution Annual Report”

The table below provides a summary of the current and proposed burdens for the four ICR’s listed above.

ICR # 2137-	Current Responses	Proposed Responses	Current Burden (hrs)	Proposed Burden (hrs)
0635	301	262	3,612	3,144
0522	10,547	2,247	80,101	71,801
0625	9,343	3,882	865,178	723,192
0629	1,446	1,446	24,582	25,189

Public Comments

PHMSA is soliciting public comments on this NPRM. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.regulations.gov, Docket # PHMSA-2018-0046). Comments need to be submitted by August 10^th, 2020.