[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38803-38806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15339]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0084]
Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revisions to
Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),
DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, PHMSA
invites comments on an information collection under Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 2137-0522, titled ``Incident
and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.'' PHMSA is preparing to
revise seven forms which are included in this information collection.
These forms include: PHMSA F 7100.1 Incident Report--Gas Distribution
System; PHMSA F 7100.1-2 Mechanical Fitting Failure Report Form for
Calendar Year 20-- for Distribution Operators; PHMSA F 7100.2 Incident
Report--Natural and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline
Systems; PHMSA F 7100.2-1 Annual Report for Calendar Year 20-- Natural
and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems; PHMSA F
7100.3 Incident Report--Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities; and PHMSA F
7100.3-1 Annual Report for Calendar Year 20---- Liquefied Natural Gas
Facilities. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
PHMSA invites comments on the proposed revisions to these forms and
instructions.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
August 26, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted in the following ways:
E-Gov Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. This site allows the
public to enter comments on any Federal Register notice issued by any
agency.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-140,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the ground level of DOT, West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m.
and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: Identify the docket number, PHMSA-2013-0084, at the
beginning of your comments. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. You should know that 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.). Therefore, you may want to review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or visit http://www.regulations.gov before
submitting any such comments.
Docket: For access to the docket or to read background documents or
comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-
140 on the ground level of DOT, West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE., Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays. If you wish to receive confirmation of
receipt of your written comments, please include a self-addressed,
stamped postcard with the following statement: ``Comments on: PHMSA-
2013-0084.'' The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to
returning it to you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays
in the delivery of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we
recommend that persons consider an alternative method (internet, fax,
or professional delivery service) of submitting comments to the docket
and ensuring their timely receipt at DOT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Dow by telephone at 202-366-
1246, by email at [email protected], by fax at 202-366-4566, or by
mail at DOT, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., PHP-30, Washington, DC
20590-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 1320.8(d), Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, requires
PHMSA to provide interested members of the public and affected agencies
an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping
requests. This notice identifies an information collection request that
PHMSA will be submitting to OMB for revision. The information
collection expires February 28, 2014, and is identified under OMB
Control No. 2137-0522, titled: ``Incident and Annual Reports for Gas
Pipeline Operators.'' PHMSA is considering the revision of the seven
forms that are contained within this information collection. The
revisions to each of the forms are described below.
A. Gas Distribution Incident Report (PHMSA F. 7100.1)
PHMSA intends to revise the PHMSA F 7100.1 Incident Report--Gas
Distribution System Form (GD Incident Report Form) by adding a pipe
material type, adding a commodity type, changing system types, removing
a system type, requiring additional fields, and revising the
instructions. Background for these topics is as follows:
1. Adding Pipe Material Type of Reconditioned Cast Iron
PHMSA recognizes that reconditioned cast iron pipe may be used in
gas distribution systems. This new pipe material type will be added as
an option in part C4.
2. Adding Commodity of Landfill Gas
PHMSA recognizes that gas distribution pipelines may transport gas
produced in landfills. In order to differentiate this type of gas, the
[[Page 38804]]
additional commodity choice is being added to part A9.
3. Changing System Types
Currently, part C1 is intended to identify the system type.
However, the options are a combination of system types and commodity
data. PHMSA proposes to modify the GD Incident Report Form to allow
these choices for system type: Municipal, Privately Owned, and Other
(e.g., cooperatives, public utility districts, etc.) Commodity data is
entered in part A9.
4. Revise Instructions for National Response Center Report Number
PHMSA proposes to require a National Response Center (NRC) number
in every GD Incident Report Form submission. PHMSA recognizes that in
some cases an operator may submit multiple NRC reports for a single
incident. An operator will be able to enter a single NRC number or
select one of the following: NRC notification not required; NRC
notification required but not made; or, do not know NRC report number.
When there is more than one NRC report for an incident, an operator
will be able to enter the first NRC report in this field and remaining
NRC report numbers in Part H--Narrative.
5. Revise Instructions for City
Currently, the city field is not required as part of the report.
While the vast majority of reports include the city, there have been
occasions when the data should have been entered, but was not. PHMSA
proposes to require the city field in every GD Incident Report Form
submission to facilitate understanding about the location of the
incident. Operators will also be able to enter ``not within a
municipality'' in this field.
6. Revise Instructions for County or Parish
Currently, the county or parish field is not required as part of
the report. While the vast majority of reports include the county or
parish, there have been occasions when the data has not been entered.
PHMSA proposes to require the county or parish field in every GD
Incident Report Form submission to further facilitate understanding
about the location of the incident.
7. Revise Instructions for Incident Preparer and Authorizer
Currently, operator contact information is not required, although
it is often included. PHMSA proposes to require the name, email
address, and phone number for each of these individuals in every GD
Incident Report Form submission. PHMSA and state investigators need
this contact information to facilitate communication with the operator.
If an individual does not have a work email address, the operator will
be able to enter ``no email address'' in this field.
8. Estimated Responses/Burden Hours Revisions
The vast majority of GD Incident Report Form reports already
include the information described above or the information is readily
available, so PHMSA does not anticipate an increase in the information
collection burden for these changes.
B. Mechanical Fitting Failure Report Form (PHMSA F. 7100.1-2)
PHMSA intends to revise the PHMSA F 7100.1-2 Gas Distribution
Mechanical Fitting Failures (MFF Report Form) to improve the
granularity of the data collected and provide clarification to
operators for selecting the cause of the mechanical fitting failure.
Background for this topic is as follows:
1. Reporting ``Incorrect Operation'' as an Apparent Cause
PHMSA proposes to revise Question 15, ``Apparent Cause of Leak,''
under Part C of the MFF Report Form. PHMSA is proposing to remove the
option of reporting a ``Construction/Installation Defect'' from the
``Material or Welds/Fusions'' apparent cause category and revise the
category to ``Incorrect Operation.'' The apparent cause of ``Incorrect
Operation'' should be identified when an operator reports a failure
that apparently results from incorrect installation of the mechanical
fitting. It is PHMSA's intent to capture failure data under the
``Material or Welds/Fusions'' leak cause category that is specific to
manufacture, fabrication, material, and design defects of mechanical
fittings.
2. Estimated Responses/Burden Hours Revisions
Currently, PHMSA estimates that 18,000 MFF Report Form submissions
will be filed on an annual basis. In addition, PHMSA estimates that
each submission will take about one hour to submit to PHMSA. Based on
the MFF Report Form filings over the past year, PHMSA proposes to
revise its estimate of the annual number of MFF Report Form submissions
to 8,300 submissions (a 9,700 reduction). Based on electronic
submission, PHMSA also proposes to revise its estimated time to file a
report from one hour per submission to 30 minutes per submission. The
resulting burden changes to information collections are described
below.
C. Incident Report--Natural and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering
Pipeline System (PHMSA F 7100.2)
PHMSA proposes to revise the PHMSA F 7100.2 Incident Report--
Natural and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Form
(GTG Incident Report Form) by restoring a data element for how the
maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) was determined, adding a
commodity type, requiring additional fields, and revising the
instructions. Background for these topics is as follows:
1. Restore MAOP Established by Section
In the 01-2002 edition of the GTG Incident Report Form, Part A2
collected data about how the MAOP of the pipeline system was
established. This data element was removed when the form was revised in
2010. Through comments submitted in Docket PHMSA-2012-0024, the
Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and other commenters
strongly urged PHMSA to restore this data element. PHMSA is proposing
to add the method of establishing MAOP in Part E of the GTG Incident
Report Form. Response options will be the same as those found in Part Q
of Form PHMSA F 7100.2-1 Annual Report for Calendar Year 20-- Natural
and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems (GTG Annual
Report Form). Furthermore, operators will be able to supplement GTG
Incident Report Form submissions for incidents occurring after January
1, 2010 to populate this field.
2. Adding Commodity of Landfill Gas
PHMSA recognizes that gas transmission and gathering pipelines may
transport gas produced in landfills. To differentiate this type of gas,
PHMSA is proposing to add Landfill Gas as another commodity choice in
Part A9.
3. Revise Instructions for National Response Center Report Number
PHMSA proposes to require this field (Part A6) in every GTG
Incident Report Form submission. An operator will be able to enter a
single NRC number or select one of the following: NRC notification not
required; NRC notification required but not made; or, do not know NRC
report number. In some cases an operator may submit multiple NRC
reports for a single accident. When there is more than one NRC report
for an accident, an operator will be able to enter the first report in
this field and remaining NRC report numbers in Part H--Narrative.
[[Page 38805]]
4. Revise Instructions for City
Currently, the city field is not required as part of the report.
While the vast majority of reports for onshore incidents include the
city, there have been occasions when the data should have been entered,
but was not. PHMSA proposes to require this field (Part B4) in every
GTG Incident Report Form submission for an incident that occurs onshore
to facilitate understanding about the location of the incident.
Operators would also be able to enter ``not within a municipality'' in
this field.
5. Revise Instructions for County or Parish
Currently, the county or parish field is not required as part of
the report. While the vast majority of reports for onshore incidents
include the county or parish, there have been occasions when the data
has not been entered. PHMSA proposes to require this field (Part B5) in
every GTG Incident Report Form submission for an incident that occurs
onshore to facilitate understanding about the location of the incident.
6. Revise Instructions for Incident Preparer and Authorizer (Part I)
Currently, operator contact information is not required, although
it is often included. PHMSA proposes to require the name, email
address, and phone number for each of these individuals in every GTG
Incident Report Form submission. PHMSA and State investigators need
this contact information to facilitate communication with the operator.
If an individual does not have a work email address, the operator will
be able to enter ``no email address'' in this field.
7. Estimated Responses/Burden Hours Revisions
The vast majority of reports already include the above-described
information or the information is readily available, so PHMSA does not
anticipate an increase in the information burden for these changes.
D. Annual Report--Natural and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering
Pipeline Systems (PHMSA F. 7100.2-1)
PHMSA proposes to revise the PHMSA F 7100.21 Annual Report--Natural
and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Form (GTG
Annual Report Form) by removing and reserving Part C. Background for
this topic is as follows:
Remove Part C--Volume Transported by Transmission Lines
PHMSA has used Part C of the GTG Annual Report to collect data on
the volume transported by gas transmission lines. The collection of
this data excluded ``transmission lines of distribution systems''.
After reviewing two years of volume transported data, PHMSA has
determined that the data collected is not on par with the data gas
transmission operators submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC). In an effort to eliminate duplicity of data
submitted by operators and to ensure that the data PHMSA uses is
consistent with the data being submitted to FERC, PHMSA is removing
Part C of the GTG Annual Report Form. When PHMSA needs to quantify the
volume of natural gas transported, we will use the FERC data which
covers the largest component of the volume information.
E. Incident Report--Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities (PHMSA F 7100.3)
PHMSA proposes to revise the PHMSA F 7100.3 Incident Report--
Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities form (LNG Incident Report Form) to
limit location data to the state and modify the ``regulated by'' data.
Background for these topics is as follows:
1. Limit Location Data to the State
In Part B1, the LNG Incident Report Form currently collects the
latitude and longitude of the incident. The name of the LNG facility
and the state are sufficient to determine the location of the incident.
Therefore, PHMSA proposes to remove latitude and longitude from the LNG
Incident Report Form.
2. Modify the ``Regulated By'' data
Currently, Part B1 collects data about whether PHMSA or a state
agency inspects the facility for compliance with 49 CFR Part 193. PHMSA
proposes to modify this section to match proposed modifications to the
PHMSA F 7100.3-1 Annual Report for Calendar Year 20---- Liquefied
Natural Gas Facilities Form (Annual Report Form). If the facility
operates under a FERC certificate, the facility will be reported as
interstate. Otherwise, the facility will be reported as intrastate.
3. Estimated Responses/Burden Hours Revisions
The proposed changes are designed to streamline the LNG Incident
Report and allow for greater ease in reporting. While PHMSA believes
the change in burden to be minimal, the proposed changes could result
in a slight decrease in burden.
F. Annual Report for Calendar Year 20-- Liquefied Natural Gas
Facilities (PHMSA F 7100.3-1)
PHMSA proposes to revise PHMSA F 7100.3-1-Annual Report for
Calendar Year 20-- Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities (LNG Annual Report
Form) to remove section A5, require entry of interstate or intrastate
facility, and eliminate duplicative reporting. Background for these
topics is as follows:
1. Remove A5
Section A5 was designed to allow for submitters to identify whether
or not they had any changes from the report submitted the previous
year. PHMSA has determined that this section provides limited value to
all stakeholders and should be removed.
2. Require Entry of Interstate or Intrastate
Currently, the field within Part B for whether a facility is
``Interstate or Intrastate'' is not required. PHMSA proposes to require
this field for every LNG Annual Report Form submission. If the facility
operates under a FERC certificate, the facility should be reported as
interstate. Otherwise, the facility should be reported as intrastate.
3. Remove Duplicative Reporting
Currently, a summary of reportable incident data is collected in
Part C and a summary of safety-related condition data is collected in
Part D of the LNG Annual Report Form. PHMSA pipeline safety regulations
in Part 191 require LNG operators to submit incident reports and
safety-related condition reports when certain criteria are met. Since
these reports contain details about each event, the summary data in the
LNG Annual Report Form is redundant. Therefore, PHMSA proposes to
remove reportable incidents from Part C and safety-related conditions
from Part D.
4. Estimated Responses/Burden Hours Revisions
The proposed changes are designed to streamline reporting and
eliminate duplicative information. PHMSA recognizes that these changes
will not affect all operators completing the LNG Annual Report and
considers the change in the overall burden to be minimal. PHMSA
acknowledges that the elimination of Section A5 along with the
summaries of reportable incident and safety-related condition data in
Parts C and D should cause a slight
[[Page 38806]]
decrease in burden for affected operators.
II. Summary of Impacted Collection
The following information is provided for this information
collection: (1) Title of the information collection; (2) OMB control
number; (3) Current expiration date; (4) Type of request; (5) Abstract
of the information collection activity; (6) Description of affected
public; (7) Estimate of total annual reporting and recordkeeping
burden; and (8) Frequency of collection. PHMSA requests comments on the
following information collection, including the proposed revisions
addressed in this notice:
Title: Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline and LNG
Facility Operators.
OMB Control Number: 2137-0522.
Current Expiration Date: 02/28/2014.
Type of Request: Revision.
Abstract: PHMSA is looking to revise several reporting forms for
gas pipeline and LNG facility operators to improve the granularity of
the data collected in several areas.
Affected Public: Gas pipeline and LNG facility operators.
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
Total Annual Responses: 12,164.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 96,471.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Comments are invited on:
(a) The need for the proposed collection of information for the
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether
the information will have practical utility;
(b) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques.
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 21, 2013.
Jeffrey D. Wiese,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2013-15339 Filed 6-26-13; 8:45 am]
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