[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 17 (Friday, January 25, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 3675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-1909]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

49 CFR Parts 192 and 195

[Docket No. RSPA-97-2426; Notice 4]
RIN 2137-AB48


Maps and Records of Pipeline Locations and Characteristics; 
Notification of State Agencies; Pipe Inventory

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA).

ACTION: Notice of removal of regulatory agenda item.

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SUMMARY: This agenda item contemplated a rulemaking action to equalize 
as far as possible the requirements that gas and hazardous liquid 
pipeline operators keep maps and records to show the location and other 
characteristics of pipelines. Operators would have been required to 
keep an inventory of pipe and periodically report mileage and other 
data to federal and State agencies. This action was considered because 
of congressional and State concerns about the need for appropriate 
public officials to have pipeline information. Since this contemplated 
rulemaking was initiated in 1997, RSPA has developed the National 
Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS), a non-regulatory approach, to address 
these needs. Furthermore, pipeline security issues have been raised by 
recent events. In light of the development of the NPMS and the security 
issues, this item is removed from the regulatory agenda.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Huriaux, by telephone at (202) 
366-4565, by fax at (202) 366-4566, or by e-mail at 
[email protected], regarding the subject matter of this 
notice. You may contact the Dockets Facility by phone at (202) 366-
9329, for copies of this notice or other material in the docket. All 
materials in this docket may be accessed electronically at http://dms.dot.gov. General information about the RSPA Office of Pipeline 
Safety programs may be obtained by accessing OPS's Internet page at 
http://ops.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In Section 102 and 202 of the Pipeline 
Safety Reauthorization Act of 1988 (Pub. L. 100-561, October 31, 1988), 
Congress directed RSPA to establish standards to require pipeline 
operators to complete and maintain an inventory of gas and hazardous 
liquid pipelines, including information on the location and history of 
leaks.
    This requirement was to equalize as far as possible the 
requirements that gas and hazardous liquid pipeline operators keep maps 
and records to show the location and other characteristics of 
pipelines. Operators would have been required to keep an inventory of 
pipe and periodically report mileage and other facts to Federal and 
State agencies. A rulemaking action was considered because of 
congressional and State concerns about the need for appropriate public 
officials to have pipeline information.
    Since the publication of this agenda item in 1997, RSPA has 
developed a non-regulatory alternative approach to ensuring that 
information on the location and characteristics of gas and hazardous 
liquid pipelines is available to Federal and State agencies. RSPA has 
worked with other Federal and State agencies and the pipeline industry 
to create the NPMS. The NPMS shows the location and selected attributes 
of the major natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines and liquefied 
natural gas facilities in the Untied States.
    The NPMS is a full-featured geographic information system that 
allows RSPA, for the first time, to accurately view pipelines in 
relation to the communities and environments they cross. The pipeline 
data layers now being populated cover both interstate and intrastate 
natural gas transmission pipelines and hazardous liquid pipelines. It 
includes data depicting population, urbanized areas, political 
boundaries, roads, railroads, hydrography, consequence and hazard 
areas, and unusually sensitive areas. At present, the NPMS includes 
data on 85-90 percent of the hazardous liquid pipeline milage and on 
more than 50 percent of the gas transmission pipeline mileage.
    In addition, pipeline security issues have been raised by recent 
events. In light of the development of the NPMS and the security 
issues, a rulemaking action is no longer necessary.
    On the basis of the foregoing, RSPA hereby removes this action from 
the regulatory agenda.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 60102 et seq.; 49 CFR 1.53.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on January 22, 2002.
James K. O'Steen,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 02-1909 Filed 1-24-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P