OMB Announces Approval of PHMSA Excess Flow Valve NPRM

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved PHMSA’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for “Excess Flow Valves In Applications Other Than Single-Family Residences in Gas Distribution Systems”. The advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) for this rule was published in November of 2011.

‘Excess flow valves’ (EFV) are intended to automatically shut off the flow of a gas line (in this instance) when there is more than a set flow of gas through the valve. This excess flow typically indicates that there is a break in the line somewhere downstream of the valve, thus shutting off the flow to that break will limit the amount of flammable gas that can accumulate in the building. This would limit the size of a subsequent explosion or even prevent such an explosion from occurring.

This rulemaking was initiated in response to NTSB recommendations dating back to 1996. There were industry concerns expressed in response to the ANPRM that EFVs were inappropriate where there were wide changes in gas flow rate.

I would generally expect this NPRM to be published later this week.

OMB Announces Receipt of Two PHMSA Pipeline NPRM

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received to notice of proposed rulemakings (NPRM) from DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administrations (PHMSA); “Excess Flow Valves In Applications Other Than Single-Family Residences in Gas Distribution Systems” and “Safety of On-Shore Liquid Hazardous Pipelines”.

Excess Flow Valve NPRM

According to the OIRA web site this rule would “require excess flow valves (EFVs) be installed in all new and renewed gas service lines, for structures other than single family dwellings, when the operating conditions are compatible with readily available valves”. The advance notice of proposed rulemakings was published on November 11^th, 2011 and I briefly described the rulemaking on the same date. Nineteen public comments were received on the ANPRM.

Liquid Hazardous Pipeline NPRM

According to the OIRA web site this rule would “address effective procedures that hazardous liquid operators can use to improve the protection of High Consequence Areas (HCA) and other vulnerable areas along their hazardous liquid onshore pipelines”. The advance notice of proposed rulemakings was published on October 18^th, 2010 and I briefly described the rulemaking on the same date. Twenty-four public comments were received on the ANPRM, including mine.

Moving Forward

There is no telling how long it will take OIRA to review these proposed rulemakings. It could take weeks to years, though I expect it to be closer to a couple of months. It is unlikely that they would both be published in the Federal Register on the same day.

PHMSA Publishes Excess Flow Valve ANPRM

In response to a National Transportations Safety Board (NTSB) recommendation to expand the use of excess flow valves in gas service lines the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) is publishing Friday (available on line today) an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) (76 FR 72666-72671) seeking public comment on several issues relating to the expanded use of excess flow valves (EFVs) in gas distribution systems.

Background

The NTSB recommendation was made on June 22, 2001 in their report on a natural gas explosion at a single family residence in South Riding, VA. Their recommendation SR P-01-2 proposed that “excess flow valves be installed in all new and renewed gas service lines, regardless of a customer's classification, when the operating conditions are compatible with readily available valves” (76 FR 72667).

With a lot of caveats PHMSA required the installation of EFVs on all new or replaced service lines serving single-family dwellings in a final rule published on December 4^th, 2009 (76 FR 63934). The authority for that requirement was provided in the 2006 PIPES Act (PL 109-468), but that authority did not extend beyond single-family residences. In this ANPRM PHMSA notes that they have “broad authority under 49 U.S.C. 60102 to prescribe safety standards requiring that EFVs be installed on those lines in appropriate cases” (76 FR 72668).

An EFV is a safety device that is put into (in this case) a gas transmission line. It consists of a flow measuring device and an actuator for a valve. When the gas flow reaches a pre-set volume, the EFV shuts the valve on the line, stopping the flow of gas. The set point is calculated to be some percentage of the maximum possible flow rate through the line at some pre-determined pressure. The idea is that there is some flow rate through the line that can only be explained by a catastrophic leak and shutting off the flow of gas to the leak will limit the potential size of an accidental gas explosion.

Existing Standards

PHMSA notes that there are currently three existing technical standards for the specification, manufacturing and testing of EFVs. They also explain that the existing standards “may not be applicable to all sizes and pressure ratings of EFVs that would be needed if they were mandated for use in applications other than single family residences”. Those three standards are:

• “Manufacturers Standardization Society (MSS) SP-115-2006—Design, Performance & Test.”;

• “ASTM International (ASTM) F1802-04—Standard Test Method for Performance Testing of Excess Flow Valves.”; and

• “ASTM International (ASTM) F2138-01—Standard Specification for Excess Flow Valves for Natural Gas Service.”

If the current gaps in these standards were to be addressed by the two bodies involved PHMSA would consider incorporating these three standards by reference in the final rule if and when it is developed.

Public Comment

In order for PHMSA to complete their work on this regulation they are asking for public input on some specific areas related to the potential rule. These questions fall into four general categories:

• Technical challenges (76 FR 72670);

• Economic (Cost-Benefit) analysis (76 FR 72670);

• Technical standards (76 FR 72670); and

• Review of current industry standards (76 FR 72671).

Public comments need to be filed by February 18, 2012. They may be posted electronically to the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # PHMSA-2011-0009).

OMB Approves PHMS Gas Pipeline Excess Flow Valve ANPRM

Yesterday the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) web site announced that it had approved the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking submitted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Administration in response to NTSB and PHMSA “investigations of current [excess flow valve] EFV installation practices”. The announced approval was ‘consistent with change’; though there is no indication in the announcement of what changes the OMB was looking for.

According to the abstract in the Unified Agenda listing for this rule the proposal would “require excess flow valves (EFVs) be installed in all new and renewed gas service lines, for structures other than single family dwellings”. These valves are designed to automatically turn off gas flow if the flow rate exceeds a set maximum; the intention is to stop gas flow to broken lines and prevent large explosions and fires in buildings with damaged gas lines.

Depending on how extensive the changes required by the OMB, this ANPRM could be published in the Federal Register in the next couple of weeks.

PHMSA Pipeline ICR 30-Day Renewal Notice

On Monday morning (it was actually published on-line on Saturday) the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a follow-up notice in the Federal Register (76 FR 65778-65779) that they would be requesting that the Office of Management and Budget would approve a three year extension of some of the information collection requests (ICRs) that support their pipeline safety program. This 30-day notice follows their 60-day notice that was published back on August 1, 2011.

I typically don’t write about these follow-up notices since very few people ever avail themselves of the information to file a comment on the government’s paperwork burden on industry. Again, there were no comments filed on the earlier notice during the 60-day comment period. And my readers know that I never beat dead horses (well, only a few).

In this case I will make an exception since PHMSA is making two substantial changes to this ICR. First they are eliminating one ICR and then they are merging two ICRs.

Excess Flow Valves – Customer Notifications

PHMSA begins their listing of ICRs by explaining that pipeline operators “are no longer required to provide notifications about excess flow valves to service line customers” (76 FR 65778) so they are discontinuing the ICR that supported that old requirement. This was not mentioned in the earlier notice. Of course I’m sure that any number of operators will complain about the end of this ICR (just a little sarcasm).

Pipeline Integrity Management

There are currently two different ICR’s supporting PHMSA’s pipeline integrity management program for pipelines in High Consequence Areas; one for operators with less than 500 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines (2137-0605) and one for those with more than 500 miles (2137-0604). PHMSA is merging the two ICRs into one under a retitled 2137-0605; Integrity Management in High Consequence Areas for Operators of Hazardous Liquid Pipelines (76 FR 65779).

Public Comments

As is required under federal law, PHMSA is soliciting public comments about the renewal, elimination and modification of these ICR’s. Public comments need to be submitted by November 23, 2011, directly to OMB. There are no provisions in this notice for electronic submissions; only a mailing address is provided. That address is:

OMB

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Attn: Desk Officer for the U.S. Department of Transportation (PHMSA)

725 17th Street, NW.

Washington, DC 20503

Typically, these 30-day notice comment solicitations include either an email address or fax number for the OMB submission. There isn’t one in this case and OMB is too good to use the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.regulation.gov) for managing their public comments.

PHMSA Sends Two Pipeline Safety Rules to OMB

Yesterday the OMB web site announced that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration submitted two rules for OMB review. The first is a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) providing for PHMSA enforcement of State anti-excavation laws. The second is an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to require the installation of excess flow valves (EFV) on gas service lines in structures other than single family residences.

State Anti-Excavation Laws

According to the abstract for this NPRM published on the RegInfo.gov web site:

“The PIPES Act provides PHMSA with the authority to enforce excavation damage laws in those states that have inadequate enforcement. This rulemaking would consider standards for excavators and operators to follow when conducting excavation in a vicinity of a pipeline and the administrative procedures to be used for enforcement proceedings.”

The ANPRM for this rule was published in October 2009.

Excess Flow Valves

According to the abstract for this ANPRM published on the RegInfo.gov web site:

“This rulemaking would require excess flow valves (EFVs) be installed in all new and renewed gas service lines, for structures other than single family dwellings, when the operating conditions are compatible with readily available valves. These changes would be in response to NTSB and PHMSA investigations of current EFV installation practices. The intended effect of the rule is to increase the level of safety for structures other than single family dwellings currently subject to Federal pipeline safety regulation.”