[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 79 (Friday, April 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22115-22117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9202]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-04-17401; Notice 1]


Pipeline Safety: Development of Class Location Change Waiver 
Guidelines

AGENCY: Office of Pipeline Safety, Research and Special Programs 
Administration, DOT.

[[Page 22116]]


ACTION: Notice; information on class location waiver guideline 
development.

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SUMMARY: On December 15, 2003, the Research and Special Programs 
Administration's (RSPA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) issued a final 
rule on gas pipeline integrity management that established a policy to 
grant waivers of the pipe replacement or pressure reduction 
requirements after a change in Class Location if an operator can 
demonstrate an alternative integrity management program for the waiver 
segment. A pipeline Class Location increase results from an increase in 
population adjacent to a pipeline segment. RSPA/OPS held a meeting on 
April 14-15, 2004, in Washington, DC, to discuss the criteria for gas 
pipeline Class Location change waivers. Waivers will only be granted 
when pipe condition and active integrity management provides a level of 
safety greater than or equal to a pipe replacement or pressure 
reduction.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy Kadnar, (tel: 202-366-0568); e-
mail [email protected] regarding the subject matter of this 
notice. Additional information about RSPA/OPS'' Class Location waiver 
guidelines development can be found at http://primis.rspa.dot.gov/gasimp. You can read comments and other material in the docket on the 
Internet at: http://dms.dot.gov.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments [identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
RSPA-04-17401] by any of the following methods:
     Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 
Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-001.
     Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of 
the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this 
rulemaking. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public 
Participation heading of the Supplementary Information section of this 
document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to http://dms.dot.gov. including any personal information provided. 
Please see the Privacy Act heading under Regulatory Notices.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL-
40 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal Holidays.
    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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 
(codified at 49 U.S.C. 60101) required RSPA/OPS to issue regulations to 
require pipeline operators to conduct risk analyses and to adopt and 
implement integrity management programs. On December 15, 2003, RSPA/OPS 
issued a final rule on gas transmission pipeline integrity management 
in high consequence areas (68 FR 69778). The cost-benefit analysis 
included in this final rule noted that another benefit to be realized 
from implementing integrity management is reduced cost to the pipeline 
industry for ensuring safety in populated areas along pipelines. The 
improved knowledge of pipeline integrity that will result from 
implementing this rule will provide a technical basis for providing 
relief to operators from current requirements to replace pipe or to 
reduce operating stresses in pipelines when population near them 
increases, i.e. when the Class Location increases from Class 2 to Class 
3.
    The pipeline safety regulations require that pipelines routed 
through areas with higher local population density operate at lower 
pressures. This is intended to provide an extra safety margin in those 
areas. Operators typically replace pipeline when population increases, 
because reducing pressure to reduce stresses reduces the ability of the 
pipeline to carry gas. Areas with population growth typically require 
more, not less, gas.
    However, replacing pipelines can be very costly. Providing safety 
in another manner, such as by implementing the integrity management 
rule principles, could allow RSPA/OPS to waive some pipe replacement or 
pressure reductions for pipelines in areas of population growth that 
are changing from Class 2 to Class 3. RSPA/OPS estimated that such 
waivers could result in a reduction in costs to industry of $1 billion 
over the next 20 years, with no adverse effects on public safety.
    Although guidelines for granting such waivers in high consequence 
and other areas have not yet been completed, RSPA/OPS has granted a 
limited number of waivers of the Class Location change rules in our 
approval of certain risk management demonstration programs. There also 
have been recent waiver requests to allow pipe to remain at existing 
hoop stresses although the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) 
is no longer commensurate with the requirement for the new Class 
Location.
    The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) submitted 
a proposal to RSPA/OPS in January for development of guidelines for the 
granting of Class Location waivers based on integrity management 
principles. INGAA also discussed a proposal for a pilot program that 
would designate ten ``waiver sites'' that would be considered by RSPA/
OPS after the establishment of criteria for a waiver in the guidelines.
    The INGAA proposal was discussed in February, 2004, at the 
Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (TPSSC), the statutorily 
mandated gas pipeline advisory committee. The proposal was also 
discussed with state and federal regulators at the Interstate Summit 
meeting on February 26, 2004.
    Most recently, RSPA/OPS held a meeting on April 14-15, 2004, in 
Washington, DC to discuss the criteria for consideration of gas 
pipeline Class Location change waiver requests. Because a pipeline 
Class Location increase results from an increase in population adjacent 
to a pipeline segment, waivers will only be granted when pipe condition 
and active integrity management provides a level of safety greater than 
or equal to a pipe replacement or pressure reduction. The April 
meetings focused on RSPA/OPS'' criteria for pipeline characteristics 
and integrity management processes to identify projects that would have 
a high probability of waiver approval. Representatives from RSPA/OPS 
headquarters and regions, industry, and State pipeline safety agencies 
with proposed waiver sites in their States attended the meeting.

[[Page 22117]]

    Information on the INGAA proposal, development of Class Location 
waiver guidance, and the pilot program is available in the docket 
referenced above.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 60102, 60109, 60117.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2004.
Richard D. Huriaux,
Regulations Manager, Office of Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-9202 Filed 4-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P