[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 64447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26464]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration


Pipeline Safety: Definition of Onshore Gas Gathering Lines

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; issuance of advisory bulletin.

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SUMMARY: RSPA is issuing this advisory bulletin to owners and operators 
of natural gas pipeline facilities to confirm the standards the 
Research and Special Programs Administration Office of Pipeline Safety 
(OPS) uses to classify natural gas gathering lines.

ADDRESSES: This document can be viewed at the OPS home page at: http://ops.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: L.E. Herrick, (202) 366-5523, or by e-
mail at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On March 11, 1999, OPS announced an electronic public discussion 
forum and subsequent written comment period to provide OPS public input 
in deciding whether and how to modify the definition in 49 CFR 192 of a 
natural gas gathering line. (Docket No. RSPA-98-4868, Notice 1: 64 FR 
12147.) A coalition lead by the American Petroleum Institute (API) 
submitted a proposed definition, which was supplemented by API 
Recommended Practices 80; Guidelines for the Definition of Onshore Gas 
Gathering Lines (RP-80).
    OPS has reviewed the document but has not yet determined whether it 
will adopt the recommended practices into regulation. Until OPS re-
defines a gas gathering line, it will continue to classify those lines 
according to the standards it has used in the past.

II. Advisory Bulletin (ADB-02-06)

    To: Owners and Operators of Natural Gas Pipeline Facilities.
    Subject: Standards for classifying natural gas gathering lines.
    Purpose: To inform operators of the standards OPS currently uses to 
classify natural gas gathering lines.
    Advisory: Standards for classification of natural gas gathering 
lines.
    Until OPS completes its rulemaking to better define natural gas 
gathering lines (Docket No. RSPA-98-4868), OPS will continue to 
classify lines according to the four-point standard established through 
court precedent and historical interpretation. OPS will also continue 
to classify lines that pose unique difficulties of classification on a 
case-by-case basis. In brief, in the most common situation, gathering 
begins at or near the well head. In most cases, the gathering process 
terminates at the outlet of a processing plant. A processing plant is 
defined by the extraction of heavy ends from the natural gas. If there 
is no upstream processing plant, the gathering process terminates at 
the outlet of a pipeline compressor. For the purposes of determining 
the termination point of the gas gathering process, OPS does not 
consider a well head compressor (field compressor) to be a pipeline 
compressor. If there is no processing plant or pipeline compressor, the 
point at which the gathering process ends is where two or more well 
pipelines converge. If none of these points applies, the gas gathering 
termination point is where there is a change in ownership of the 
pipeline. These points are determined on a case-by-case basis 
considering the location of the pipeline in relation to population 
density, major traffic areas, and environmentally sensitive areas.
    To summarize, OPS considers the termination of gas gathering to be:
    (1) The outlet of a processing plant that extracts heavy ends from 
the natural gas;
    (2) The outlet of a pipeline compressor (not including a well head 
compressor);
    (3) The point where two or more well pipelines converge; or
    (4) The point where there is a change in ownership of the pipeline.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on October 10, 2002.
Stacey L. Gerard,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 02-26464 Filed 10-17-02; 8:45 am]
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