[Federal Register: April 23, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 79)]
[Notices]
[Page 22115-22117]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23ap04-133]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Special Programs Administration
[Docket No. RSPA-04-17401; Notice 1]
Pipeline Safety: Development of Class Location Change Waiver
Guidelines
AGENCY: Office of Pipeline Safety, Research and Special Programs
Administration, DOT.
[[Page 22116]]
ACTION: Notice; information on class location waiver guideline
development.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On December 15, 2003, the Research and Special Programs
Administration's (RSPA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) issued a final
rule on gas pipeline integrity management that established a policy to
grant waivers of the pipe replacement or pressure reduction
requirements after a change in Class Location if an operator can
demonstrate an alternative integrity management program for the waiver
segment. A pipeline Class Location increase results from an increase in
population adjacent to a pipeline segment. RSPA/OPS held a meeting on
April 14-15, 2004, in Washington, DC, to discuss the criteria for gas
pipeline Class Location change waivers. Waivers will only be granted
when pipe condition and active integrity management provides a level of
safety greater than or equal to a pipe replacement or pressure
reduction.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy Kadnar, (tel: 202-366-0568); e-
mail joy.kadnar@tsi.jccbi.gov regarding the subject matter of this
notice. Additional information about RSPA/OPS'' Class Location waiver
guidelines development can be found at http://primis.rspa.dot.gov/gasimp.
You can read comments and other material in the docket on the
Internet at: http://dms.dot.gov.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments [identified by DOT DMS Docket Number
RSPA-04-17401] by any of the following methods:
Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S.
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building,
Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-001.
Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of
the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this
rulemaking. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public
Participation heading of the Supplementary Information section of this
document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change
to http://dms.dot.gov. including any personal information provided.
Please see the Privacy Act heading under Regulatory Notices.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL-
40 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal Holidays.
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002
(codified at 49 U.S.C. 60101) required RSPA/OPS to issue regulations to
require pipeline operators to conduct risk analyses and to adopt and
implement integrity management programs. On December 15, 2003, RSPA/OPS
issued a final rule on gas transmission pipeline integrity management
in high consequence areas (68 FR 69778). The cost-benefit analysis
included in this final rule noted that another benefit to be realized
from implementing integrity management is reduced cost to the pipeline
industry for ensuring safety in populated areas along pipelines. The
improved knowledge of pipeline integrity that will result from
implementing this rule will provide a technical basis for providing
relief to operators from current requirements to replace pipe or to
reduce operating stresses in pipelines when population near them
increases, i.e. when the Class Location increases from Class 2 to Class
3.
The pipeline safety regulations require that pipelines routed
through areas with higher local population density operate at lower
pressures. This is intended to provide an extra safety margin in those
areas. Operators typically replace pipeline when population increases,
because reducing pressure to reduce stresses reduces the ability of the
pipeline to carry gas. Areas with population growth typically require
more, not less, gas.
However, replacing pipelines can be very costly. Providing safety
in another manner, such as by implementing the integrity management
rule principles, could allow RSPA/OPS to waive some pipe replacement or
pressure reductions for pipelines in areas of population growth that
are changing from Class 2 to Class 3. RSPA/OPS estimated that such
waivers could result in a reduction in costs to industry of $1 billion
over the next 20 years, with no adverse effects on public safety.
Although guidelines for granting such waivers in high consequence
and other areas have not yet been completed, RSPA/OPS has granted a
limited number of waivers of the Class Location change rules in our
approval of certain risk management demonstration programs. There also
have been recent waiver requests to allow pipe to remain at existing
hoop stresses although the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP)
is no longer commensurate with the requirement for the new Class
Location.
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) submitted
a proposal to RSPA/OPS in January for development of guidelines for the
granting of Class Location waivers based on integrity management
principles. INGAA also discussed a proposal for a pilot program that
would designate ten ``waiver sites'' that would be considered by RSPA/
OPS after the establishment of criteria for a waiver in the guidelines.
The INGAA proposal was discussed in February, 2004, at the
Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (TPSSC), the statutorily
mandated gas pipeline advisory committee. The proposal was also
discussed with state and federal regulators at the Interstate Summit
meeting on February 26, 2004.
Most recently, RSPA/OPS held a meeting on April 14-15, 2004, in
Washington, DC to discuss the criteria for consideration of gas
pipeline Class Location change waiver requests. Because a pipeline
Class Location increase results from an increase in population adjacent
to a pipeline segment, waivers will only be granted when pipe condition
and active integrity management provides a level of safety greater than
or equal to a pipe replacement or pressure reduction. The April
meetings focused on RSPA/OPS'' criteria for pipeline characteristics
and integrity management processes to identify projects that would have
a high probability of waiver approval. Representatives from RSPA/OPS
headquarters and regions, industry, and State pipeline safety agencies
with proposed waiver sites in their States attended the meeting.
[[Page 22117]]
Information on the INGAA proposal, development of Class Location
waiver guidance, and the pilot program is available in the docket
referenced above.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 60102, 60109, 60117.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2004.
Richard D. Huriaux,
Regulations Manager, Office of Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-9202 Filed 4-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P