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This rulemaking would amend the pipeline safety regulations to address integrity management principles for gas transmission pipelines. The rulemaking would address repair criteria for high-consequence areas (HCA) and non-HCA areas, assessment methods, validating and integrating pipeline data, risk assessments, knowledge gained through the integrity management program, corrosion control, change management, gathering lines, and safety features on launchers and receivers.

Statement of Need:

This rulemaking is in direct response to Congressional mandates in the 2011 Pipeline Reauthorization Act, specifically sec. 4 (e) Gas IM plus 6 months), sec. 5(IM), 8 (leak detection), 23(b)(2)(exceedance of MAOP); sec. 29 (seismicity). These statutory mandates and recommendations stem from a number of high profile and high consequence gas transmission and gathering pipeline incidents and changes in the industry since the establishment of existing regulatory requirements (e.g., San Bruno, CA explosion that killed eight people).

Summary of the Legal Basis:

Congress has authorized Federal regulation of the transportation of gas by pipeline under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Authorization is codified in the Pipeline Safety Laws (49 U.S.C. secs. 60101 et seq.), a series of statutes that are administered by the DOT, PHMSA. PHMSA has used that authority to promulgate comprehensive minimum safety standards for the transportation of gas by pipeline.

Alternatives:

PHMSA considered alternatives to establishing a newly defined moderate consequence area and evaluated requiring assessments for all pipelines outside HCAs.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

Preliminary estimates of annualized costs are in the range of $40 million; annualized benefits, including cost savings, are over $200 million.

Risks:

This rule addresses known risks to gas transmission and gathering including the "grandfather clause" (exemption for testing to establish maximum operating pressure for transmission lines) and new unregulated gathering lines that resemble transmission lines.