During the March 26-28, 2018 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) Meeting, PHMSA announced that they will be splitting the Safety of Gas Transmission and Gathering Lines proposed rulemaking into three final rules. The first Final Rule to be developed and published by PHMSA will be focused on those topics associated with congressional mandates. The rule is titled Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines: MAOP Reconfirmation, Expansion of Assessment Requirements, and Other Related Amendments Rule.
The associations developed and submitted a set of comments focused solely on the sections anticipated to be included in the first Final Rule. The comments attempted to assist PHMSA in identifying those sections that must be included in order to ensure that the pipeline safety regulations remain comprehensive and complete. The associations also offered suggested regulatory code language that mirrored the GPAC’s votes and industry’s written comments. The main topics that will be included in this rulemaking are: Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure (MAOP) Reconfirmation, Material Verification, and the Expansion of Pipeline Assessments beyond High Consequence Areas.
Now that these comments have been submitted, the associations are developing a second set of comments focused on the remaining subjects. The second rule will be titled the Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines: Repair Criteria, Integrity Management Improvements, Cathodic Protection, Management of Change, and Other Related Amendments Final Rule.
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.