The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) provides a quarterly “Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.” Each department supplies a status of the rulemakings that are currently underway at the agencies. While the agencies supply estimated dates for various milestones, it is widely understood that these dates are simply estimates. They should not be used for planning purposes, as several external factors including legal review and various levels, can impact the progress of a rulemaking.The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) provides a quarterly “Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.” Each department supplies a status of the rulemakings that are currently underway at the agencies. While the agencies supply estimated dates for various milestones, it is widely understood that these dates are simply estimates. They should not be used for planning purposes, as several external factors including legal review and various levels, can impact the progress of a rulemaking.
On May 10, OIRA published the Spring 2018 Agenda. There were two items of note for APGA members.
1. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is now listing a “Gas Pipeline Regulatory Reform” rulemaking, which “would amend the Pipeline Safety Regulations to adopt a number of actions that ease regulatory burdens on the construction and operation of gas systems.” At this time we have no details pertaining to the contents of this proposed rule.
2. PHMSA is no longer listing a rulemaking associated with Operator Qualification (OQ) on their agenda. After the publication of the OQ, Cost Recovery, Accident & Incident Notifications, and Other Pipeline Safety Changes Final Rule was published without amendments to Subpart N, it was assumed that those changes were pending in a separate rulemaking. Now, however, it appears as though this rule is no longer a priority at PHMSA.
The June 2018 version of APGA’s Monthly Pipeline Safety Regulatory Update will be modified to reflect PHMSA’s agenda. This update is provided to the Operations & Safety Committee around the 15th of each month and is uploaded to the APGA Community
here. 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.