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APGA Submits Comments to IUB

By Stuart Saulters posted 07-18-2019 10:46 AM

  
Late in the week of July 10, the American Public Gas Association (APGA) submitted comments on important pipeline safety rulemaking changes in the state of Iowa. The input provided related to the Iowa Utility Board’s (IUB) unique definition of “distribution center,” which is an undefined term from the federal pipeline safety regulations’ definition of “transmission line.”

Each state defines as appropriate “distribution center,” but unfortunately, IUB’s perception requires APGA members in that state to comply with transmission line regulations related to passage of internal inspection devices, or “smart pigs,” as well as written integrity management plans (IMP). These were intended to minimize the risk of high-pressure transmission pipelines, not low-pressure distribution pipelines. There is minimal safety benefit to subjecting low pressure pipelines to transmission pipeline regulations, like requiring in-line inspection (ILI) or a written IMP. IUB is imposing costs on Iowa ratepayers with little to no safety benefit that those in other states do not have to pay. In our comments, APGA urged the IUB to correct this inequity by adopting a definition of “distribution center” recommended by the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities (IAMU) that is more practical.

For questions on this article, please contact Stuart Saulters or John Erickson of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ssaulters@apga.org or jerickson@apga.org.

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