[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 24 (Thursday, February 5, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5480-5481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2453]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

49 CFR Parts 192 and 195

[Docket Number RSPA-97-3001]
RIN 2137-AC54


Pipeline Safety: Periodic Underwater Inspections

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

[[Page 5481]]


ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: This document extends the comment period for public comments 
on the proposed regulations to require periodic underwater inspections 
of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines offshore or crossing 
navigable waterways in waters less than 15 feet deep.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by 
March 10, 2004. Late filed comments will be considered to the extent 
practicable.

ADDRESSES:

Filing Information

    You may submit written comments by mail or delivery to the Dockets 
Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. All written 
comments should identify the docket and notice numbers stated in the 
heading of this notice. Anyone desiring confirmation of mailed comments 
must include a self-addressed stamped postcard.

Privacy Act Statement

    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (volume 65, number 70; pages 19477-78), or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

Electronic Access

    You may also submit written comments to the docket electronically. 
To submit comments electronically, log on to the following Internet Web 
address: http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' for 
instructions on how to file a document electronically.

General Information

    You may contact the Dockets Facility by phone at (202) 366-9329, 
for copies of this proposed rule or other material in the docket. All 
materials in this docket may be accessed electronically at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: L.E. Herrick by phone at (202) 366-
5523, by fax at (202) 366-4566, or by e-mail at 
[email protected], regarding the subject matter of this proposed 
rule. General information about RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) 
programs may be obtained by accessing OPS's Internet page at http://ops.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 12, 2003, RSPA/OPS published a 
notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register (68 FR 69368) to 
amend the pipeline safety regulations at 49 CFR parts 192 and 195 to 
require owners and operators of pipeline facilities to develop 
procedures to conduct periodic underwater depth of burial inspections 
of underwater pipelines. The procedures would assess the risk of a 
pipeline becoming exposed or a hazard to navigation by taking into 
account the dynamics of the waterway, including the probability of 
flotation, scour, erosion, and major storms. The operator would also be 
required to establish a risk-based timetable for inspection of 
underwater pipelines.
    In response to the NPRM the Interstate Natural Gas Association of 
America (INGAA) submitted a request for extension of the comment 
period. It noted that the end of year holidays and ongoing efforts to 
implement other regulatory requirements minimized the opportunity for 
the public to provide meaningful comments on the NPRM by the published 
due date.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2004.
Richard D. Huriaux,
Manager, Regulations, Office of Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-2453 Filed 2-4-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P