The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Gas and Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committees is scheduled to meet in Arlington, Va., this week. The Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) is comprised of 15 individuals representing government, industry and the public. APGA’s members are represented by Rich Worsinger from City of Rocky Mount. On Wednesday, the group will have a joint session to receive updates on PHMSA initiatives and task groups. Presentations will include a general rulemaking update from PHMSA, discussion on industry’s progress related to Pipeline Safety Management Systems, and a briefing on PHMSA’s Voluntary Information Sharing System.
On Thursday and Friday, the GPAC will continue their discussion on the Safety of Gas Transmission & Gathering Lines Rulemaking. The committee plans to finalize a path forward for the Material Verification requirements and begin discussing the balance of the Integrity Verification Process, including MAOP Confirmation. If time permits, the committee will discuss “Strengthening Assessment Requirements,” which includes expansion of integrity assessments beyond High Consequence Areas and additional requirements when performing integrity assessments.
This is the third meeting of the GPAC on this rulemaking. Depending upon the level of progress achieved at this meeting it is anticipated that there will need to be two to three additional GPAC meetings to ensure the multitude of issues within the rule are vetted by the GPAC members.
APGA has worked closely with the other industry trade associations (AGA, INGAA, and API) to develop joint industry positions on many issues. This united voice will help to enable positive changes to proposed rulemakings. A summary of the meeting, highlighting issues of specific concern to APGA members, will be distributed next week.
For more information on the meeting, please visit
https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/meetings/MtgHome.mtg?mtg=127&nocache=9447.
For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-905-2904 or by email at
ekurilla@apga.org.