PHMSA Extends Deadlines for Complying with New Plastic Pipeline Regulations 

On March 1, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) granted the request of the American Gas Association (AGA) to extend compliance deadlines established in the recently adopted final rule amending design, construction and maintenance requirements applicable to plastic piping. 

As summarized in the table below, PHMSA granted an additional 90 days to implement training and operator qualification programs for the new requirements and to work with equipment suppliers.  PHMSA granted an additional six months to comply with provisions requiring the development of new programs.  PHMSA also delayed until January 22, 2020 the deadline for using Category 1 fittings on plastic to metallic connections of pipe 4 inches or more in diameter.  PHMSA did not adopt AGA’s request to limit the requirement to use Category 1 fittings to connections of plastic to plastic pipe with diameters of less than 4 inches.  

PHMSA will publish a formal response to AGA in the Federal Register. 

Gas Gathering Pipelines

PHMSA has announced that the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) will meet on June 25-26 to consider the gathering line component of the notice of proposed rulemaking PHMSA issued in April 2016 to significantly revise PHMSA’s regulations applicable to gas transmission and gathering pipelines.  The Committee is expected to address reporting requirements, safety regulations for Class 1 gathering lines, and definitions related to gas gathering.  PHMSA has not announced a new date for the postponed meeting of the Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committee. 

Senate Committee Leadership Urges PHMSA to Issue Final Rule for Gas Transmission Pipelines

On March 6, leadership of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee sent a letter to DOT Secretary Elaine Chao and PHMSA Administrator Howard “Skip” Elliott urging PHMSA to complete the pending final rule applicable for gas transmission pipelines that was required under the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011.  Industry stakeholders submitted a similar letter to Secretary Chao in February. 

PHMSA Rulemakings Update.  The chart below shows the status of PHMSA’ pending pipeline safety rulemaking initiatives as reflected in DOT’s February Significant Rulemaking Report, PHMSA’s recently updated Chart summarizing the status of legislatively mandated actions, and the Office of Management & Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which appears in two principal parts, Current Agenda Agency Regulatory Entries for Active Actions and Current Long Term Actions.  Updates appear in bold.

Pending Final Rules

Pending Notices of Proposed Rulemakings

Pending Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemakings

Other PHMSA Updates

PHMSA releases updated civil penalty summary.  On March 5, PHMSA posted an updated “Civil Penalty Summary” providing an overview of how PHMSA calculates proposed civil penalties when issuing notices of probable violation.  The updated summary adjusts several civil penalty ranges, in part to reflect higher, inflation-adjusted civil penalty limits, and revises descriptions of conduct that may affect the level of a proposed penalty. 

Updates from Industry

API releases third edition of Recommended Practice (RP) 1160.  On February 27, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released the third edition of RP 1160, “Managing System Integrity for Hazardous Liquid Pipelines,” which describes a process for establishing safe pipeline operations, including performing risk assessments and establishing systems to manage systems during day-to-day operations.

Pipeline Association for Public Awareness releases Excavation Safety Guide and Directory.  The Pipeline Association for Public Awareness released the Pipeline Edition of its Excavation Safety Guide and Directory which sets forth guidelines for preventing pipeline emergencies.  Among other things, the Guide contains a pre-excavation checklist, explains the basics of locate requests, and describes locating and marking best practices.