PHMSA Publishes Pipeline Safety Deregulation Final Rule

The DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule in Monday’s Federal Register (86 FR 2210-2242, available on-line today) on “Gas Pipeline Regulatory Reform”. The NPRM for this rulemaking was published in April 2020.

The following changes were made from the notice of proposed rulemaking language:

Farm Taps (Sections 191.11, 192.740, 192.1003) –

◦ Removed the proposed § 192.740(c)(4) from the final rule, and

◦ Replaced ‘unregulated gathering line’ with ‘gathering pipeline other than a regulated gathering line as determined in § 192.8 of this part” in §192.740(c)(3);

Master Meter Operators (Sections 192.1003, 192.1005, 192.1015) – no change;

Mechanical Fitting Failure Reporting (Sections 191.12, 192.1009) – revised the proposed part C of the Gas Distribution Annual Report form to clarify that operators should report the number of hazardous leaks “involving” a mechanical joint failure, rather than “caused” by a mechanical joint failure;

Monetary Threshold for Incident Reporting (Section 191.3, New Appendix A to Part 191) –

◦ Set new property damage threshold to $122,000, and

◦ Incorporated the inflation adjustment formula described in the preamble to the NPRM into a new appendix A to part 191;

External Corrosion Control: Monitoring (SECTION 192.465) – clarified that remote inspection is permitted by the pipeline safety regulations (PSR);

Atmospheric Corrosion: Monitoring (Sections 192.481, 192.491, 192.1007, 192.1015) – revises  §192.491(c) to clarify that an operator must retain records of the two most recent atmospheric corrosion inspections in order to use the 5-year inspection interval for facility distribution service line;

Plastic Pipe (Sections 192.7, 192.121, 192.281, 192.285, Appendix B to Part 192) – changes the minimum wall thickness required to use plastic pipe with a size of 1-inch CTS with a design factor of 0.40 rather than 0.32;

Test Requirements for Pressure Vessels (Section 192.153) –

◦ Clarifies in §192.153(e)(3) that inspections may occur prior to the pressure vessel tie-in on-site with the pipeline,

◦ Clarifies that any pressure vessel that is temporarily or permanently installed in a pipeline facility must be inspected for damage unless it has been pressure tested on its supports at its installation location, and

◦ Adding a new § 192.153(e)(6) that clarifies testing and inspection requirements for relocating an existing pressure vessel that has previously been used in service for permanent installation at a new location in a pipeline facility;

Welding Process Requirement (Section 192.229) – no change; and

Pre-Test Applicability (Section 192.507) - removed the term “hydrostatic” from the new § 192.507(d);

The effective date of this final rule is March 21^st, 2021.

This rulemaking was initiated by the Trump Administration as part of their move to ease the regulatory burden on industry. As such it may undergo review by the Biden Administration or the 117^th Congress. Biden could delay the effective date of this rule to allow for a detailed review.