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PHMSA Advisory Committees to Meet September 6-8

By John Erickson posted 08-17-2017 12:54 PM

  
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has announced that its Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) and Liquid Pipeline Advisory committee (LPAC) will meet in the Washington, D.C., area September 6 through 8. The GPAC and LPAC will meet in a joint session on September 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Only the GPAC will meet on September 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on September 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

The GPAC and the LPAC are statutorily mandated advisory committees that advise PHMSA on proposed gas pipeline and hazardous liquid pipeline safety standards, respectively, and their associated risk assessments. The committees are established in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and 49 U.S.C. 60115. The committees consist of 15 members with membership evenly divided among federal and state governments, the regulated industry, and the general public. The committees advise PHMSA on the technical feasibility, reasonableness, cost effectiveness, and practicability of each proposed pipeline safety standard. Rich Worsinger of Rocky Mount, N.C., represents public natural gas on the GPAC.

The GPAC and LPAC will meet in a joint session to discuss a variety of topics to keep committee members up-to-date on the pipeline safety program and policy issues. The GPAC will be considering the proposed rule titled ‘‘Safety of Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipelines,’’ which was published in the Federal Register on April 8, 2016 and the associated regulatory analysis. Based on discussions at the previous GPAC meetings, the topics that will be discussed at this meeting are material documentation and the integrity verification process. If time permits, strengthened assessment requirements would also be discussed.

Members of the public who wish to attend in person are asked to register no later than August 28 at https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/meetings/MtgHome.mtg?mtg=127. For questions on this article, please contact John Erickson of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0834 or by email at jerickson@apga.org.

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