Blog Viewer

APGA Comments on PHMSA’s Proposed Valve and Rupture Detection Rule

By Erin Kurilla posted 04-09-2020 10:27 AM

  
On April 6, APGA along with the American Gas Association (AGA), Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), and American Petroleum Institute (API) jointly submitted comments on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Valve and Rupture Detection Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. While the rule was intended to exclusively impact transmission pipelines, there were a few proposed changes to regulations applicable to both transmission and distribution pipelines. One requires operators to perform actions identified during incident investigations after reportable incidents and the other includes 9-1-1 call centers as a stakeholder group during emergency plan liaison activities. The comments suggest that while the rule is intended to only impact gas transmission pipelines, distribution operators see the benefits of these two proposed changes in the regulatory requirements.

PHMSA also proposed a definition for the term “Rupture” that was broad enough to potentially include distribution pipeline damages. The comments submitted by the trade associations request that the definition be clarified to only include ruptures on gas transmission pipelines.

The balance of the comments focuses on the specific proposed requirements related to the installation, spacing, operations, and maintenance requirements for automated valves on new or “fully replaced” gas transmission pipelines.

After PHMSA reviews all public comments on the proposed rule, PHMSA’s Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) will meet to discuss each element of the rule. The meeting is tentatively set for July 2020. Rich Worsinger from Wilson Energy in Wilson, N.C., represents APGA membership on the GPAC. PHMSA hopes to publish the final rule by the end of this year.

View the comments here.

For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ekurilla@apga.org.

Permalink