[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47723-47724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19186]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0004]


Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revision to 
Gas Distribution Annual Report

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On April 28, 2014, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 
(PHMSA) published a notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 23403) of its 
intent to revise the gas distribution annual report (PHMSA F7100.1-1) 
to improve the granularity of the data collected. In addition to making 
several minor changes to the report, PHMSA will also request a new 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number for this 
information collection.
    PHMSA received comments from one commenter in response to that 
notice. PHMSA is publishing this notice to respond to the comments, 
provide the public with an additional 30 days to comment on the 
proposed revisions to the forms and the instructions and announce that 
the revised information collection will be submitted to the OMB for 
approval.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by September 15, 2014 
to be assured of consideration.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blaine Keener by telephone at 202-366-
0970, by fax at 202-366-4566, by email at [email protected].

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the docket number 
PHMSA-2013-0004 by any of the following methods:
     Fax: 1-202-395-5806.
     Mail: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), 
Records Management Center, Room 10102 NEOB, 725 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503, ATTN: Desk Officer for the U.S. Department of 
Transportation\PHMSA.
     Email: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, 
at the following email address: [email protected].
    Requests for a copy of the information collection should be 
directed to Angela Dow by telephone at 202-366-1246, by fax at 202-366-
4566, by email at [email protected] or by mail at U.S. Department of 
Transportation, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., PHP-30, Washington, 
DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    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 a revised information collection 
request that PHMSA will submit to OMB for approval. The information 
collection is titled: ``Annual Report for Gas Distribution Pipeline 
Operators'' (2137-0522).

Summary of Topic Comments/Responses

    During the two-month response period, PHMSA received comments on 
the Gas Distribution Annual Report from the American Gas Association 
(AGA).
    This notice responds to the comments, which may be found at http://www.regulations.gov, at docket number PHMSA-2013-0004. The docket also 
contains the form and instructions as amended in response to the 
comment. The AGA comments are summarized below and followed by the 
PHMSA response.
    Comment: Under Part C, Cause of Leak, AGA proposes a new leak cause 
category for operators to use in those instances when the leak is 
eliminated by replacement and abandonment of the leaking pipe. AGA 
indicates that operators prefer to indicate the cause of the leak and 
avoid using ``other'' whenever possible for the reporting of a leak 
cause, but it is difficult to determine the cause of a leak when a 
pipeline is replaced in its entirety rather than making a repair.
    Response: PHMSA's instructions for the ``Other Cause'' category 
encourage operators to use one of the specific categories whenever 
possible. A ``Repair by Replacement'' category would provide no insight 
into the cause of the leak. A single, non-specific category of ``Other 
Cause'' is sufficient to capture the number of leaks for which the 
operator cannot determine or assign the cause.
    Comment: Under Part D, Excavation Damage, AGA recommends an 
additional root cause, ``Failure to Call.'' AGA believes that this is 
different from ``One-Call Notification Practices Not Sufficient'' in 
that this item covers insufficiencies of action between the call center 
and the excavator. AGA believes it is critical to capture ``Failure to 
Call'' as a separate excavation damage metric in order to attain future

[[Page 47724]]

enhancements to one-call laws. AGA also notes numbering errors in Part 
D.
    Response: PHMSA believes that the proposed information on the 
apparent root cause of excavation damages is adequate. The four 
apparent root cause categories are those established by the 
international Common Ground Alliance (CGA) in their Damage Information 
and Reporting Tool (DIRT). In DIRT, and in the PHMSA incident and 
accident reports, ``Failure to Call'' is one of three subcategories 
under ``One-Call Notification Practices Not Sufficient.'' For 
incidents, the additional level of detail is appropriate since there 
are fewer reports. PHMSA intentionally chose to limit the reporting 
burden for damages on the annual report by collecting the apparent root 
cause at a ``higher'' level. It appears that AGA was reviewing a 2013 
edition of the report when they noted errors in the Part D numbering. 
The 2014 edition of the report in the docket has no numbering errors in 
Part D.
    Comment: AGA recommended that Part H, Additional Information, which 
allows operators to provide text explaining information submitted 
elsewhere in the annual report, be retained.
    Response: It appears that AGA was reviewing a 2013 edition of the 
report when they noted the proposal to eliminate Part H. The 2014 
edition of the report in the docket does not propose the elimination of 
Part H.
    Comment: AGA expressed concern about portions of the proposed 
definition for ``Reconditioned Cast Iron.'' AGA also noted an error in 
the instructions regarding where to describe ``other'' pipe materials.
    Response: PHMSA concurs with these comments. We revised the 
definition of ``Reconditioned Cast Iron'' in line with AGA's comments. 
We clarified where operators should enter the description of ``other'' 
pipe materials.
    Comment: Under Part C, Total Leaks And Hazardous Leaks Eliminated/
Repaired During The Year, AGA commented that the leak cause category 
``Pipe, Weld Or Joint Failure'' may exclude certain items, such as 
leaks on fittings. In addition, AGA commented that the new definition 
seems to only cover installation errors due to force applied during 
construction.
    Response: PHMSA proposes changing the ``Material or Weld'' category 
name to ``Pipe, Weld Or Joint Failure'' to match the name used in the 
gas distribution incident report. PHMSA concurs with AGA's comments 
about fittings and installation errors. PHMSA has revised the 
instructions for the leak cause category ``Pipe, Weld Or Joint 
Failure'' accordingly.
    Comment: Under Part D, Excavation Damage, AGA recommends that PHMSA 
should include damage to tracer wire in the description of excavation 
damage. AGA notes that some operators are currently reporting tracer 
wire damage to DIRT as excavation damage, but the annual report 
instructions do not specify that tracer wire damages should be reported 
as excavation damage.
    Response: PHMSA concurs with the recommendation and has revised the 
instructions to include damage to tracer wire as excavation damage.

Proposed Information Collection Revisions and Request for Comments

    The following information is provided for each revised information 
collection: (1) Title of the information collection; (2) OMB control 
number; (3) Type of request; (4) Abstract of the information collection 
activity; (5) Description of affected public; (6) Estimate of total 
annual reporting and recordkeeping burden; and (7) Frequency of 
collection. PHMSA will request a three-year term of approval for this 
information collection activity.
    Title: Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.
    OMB Control Number: N/A.
    Current Expiration Date: N/A.
    Type of Request: Revision.
    Abstract: PHMSA is looking to revise the Gas Distribution Annual 
Report (PHMSA F 7100.1-1) to make several minor changes related to data 
collection.
    Affected Public: Gas distribution pipeline operators.
    Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
    Total Annual Responses: 1,440.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 23,040.
    Frequency of Collection: Annually.
    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 August 6, 2014.
Jeffrey D. Wiese,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2014-19186 Filed 8-13-14; 8:45 am]
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