[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11253-11254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05677]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 192

[Docket ID: PHMSA-2018-0086]


Pipeline Safety: Exercise of Enforcement Discretion Regarding 
Farm Taps

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), 
DOT.

ACTION: Announcement of enforcement discretion.

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SUMMARY: PHMSA is announcing its exercise of enforcement discretion 
with respect to portions of its regulations that pertain to farm taps. 
Pursuant to the exercise of enforcement discretion announced in this 
document, PHMSA will not take enforcement action against operators who 
forego the new maintenance and inspection requirements established in 
March 2017 and instead mitigate any future risk associated with farm 
taps through compliance with the existing Distribution Integrity 
Management Program (DIMP) regulations. This will provide regulatory 
flexibility to pipeline operators while at the same time maintaining an 
equivalent level of safety.

DATES: This action is effective March 26, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or 
questions, contact Chris McLaren at [email protected] or 281-216-
4455.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On January 23, 2017, PHMSA published in the Federal Register a 
final rule titled, ``Operator Qualification, Cost Recovery, Accident 
and Incident Notification, and Other Pipeline Safety Changes.'' \1\ 
This final rule, effective March 24, 2017, modified 49 CFR 192.1003 by 
adding an exemption from the distribution integrity management program 
(DIMP) regulations for an individual service line directly connected to 
a transmission, gathering, or production pipeline. Additionally, PHMSA 
added maintenance and inspection requirements in a new section (Sec.  
192.740) to ensure the safety of pressure regulating, limiting, and 
overpressure protection for individual service lines directly connected 
to production, gathering, or transmission pipelines.
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    \1\ 82 FR 7972, also available in Docket No. PHMSA 2013-0163 at 
www.regulations.gov.
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    Individual service lines directly connected to transmission, 
gathering, or production pipelines are also called ``farm taps.'' Farm 
taps are typically located in rural areas, and provide gas to a 
customer. Prior to the final rule, PHMSA worked with stakeholders to 
best identify how to address risk with farm taps in an appropriate and 
cost efficient manner. The result of this work is contained in the 
final rule with the exemption of farm taps from the DIMP regulations in 
Sec.  192.1003(b), and the addition of Sec.  192.740, which requires 
certain maintenance and inspection tasks be performed on a periodic 
basis.
    On September 18, 2017, the American Gas Association (AGA) sent to 
PHMSA a Regulatory Impact Position Paper titled, ``Pipeline Safety: 
Operator Qualification, Cost Recovery, Accident and Incident 
Notification, and Other Pipeline Safety Changes Final Rule.'' In its 
paper, AGA encourages PHMSA to consider revising Sec. Sec.  192.740 and 
192.1003 to give operators the choice of managing the risk to farm taps 
under either of these regulatory sections. On November 9, 2017, AGA, 
the American Petroleum Institute, and the Interstate Natural Gas 
Association of American submitted joint comments to DOT's Regulatory 
Reform Docket, which sought comment on whether existing regulations may 
be repealed, replaced, or modified without compromising safety (e.g., 
for burdening domestic energy production, for imposing costs that 
exceed benefits, or for eliminating jobs or inhibiting job 
creation).\2\ The joint comments endorsed the recommendations of the 
AGA paper, and included that paper as an appendix.
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    \2\ See https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOT-OST-2017-0069-1504.
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    AGA believes that PHMSA significantly underestimated the costs 
associated with the new farm tap inspection requirements. AGA also 
questions the pipeline safety enhancements attributed to the new 
regulatory requirements, noting that operators have continuously 
monitored farm taps for heightened levels of risk under their DIMP 
plans since 2011, when the DIMP rule became effective. AGA also notes 
that operators currently are obligated to periodically perform leak 
surveys on farm taps under

[[Page 11254]]

Sec.  192.723(b)(2), and these activities provide operators an 
opportunity to verify their functionality and identify any existing 
abnormal operating conditions.
    As part of DOT's regulatory review process, PHMSA is considering 
AGA's request to revise Sec. Sec.  192.740 and 192.1003 to give 
operators the choice of managing the risk to farm taps under either of 
these regulatory sections. AGA contends that this action would provide 
industry with cost savings, while simultaneously improving pipeline 
safety by allowing operators to mitigate any future risk associated 
with farm taps through their DIMP plans. PHMSA believes that the two 
regulatory sections provide equivalent levels of safety.

II. Announcement of Exercise of Enforcement Discretion

    PHMSA is exercising enforcement discretion while it considers AGA's 
request to revise Sec. Sec.  192.740 and 192.1003 to give operators the 
choice of managing the risk to farm taps under either of these 
regulatory sections. PHMSA will not take any enforcement action 
relating to violations of Sec.  192.740 with respect to operators that 
choose to include farm taps in their DIMP plans, and will instead 
require that such operators comply with the existing DIMP regulations 
of 49 CFR part 192, subpart P. This exercise of enforcement discretion 
provides operators with the flexibility to choose to either address the 
safety of farm taps under the current regulatory framework of 
Sec. Sec.  192.740 and 192.1003(b), or under the regulatory framework 
that was in place prior to March 24, 2017, by including farm taps in 
their DIMP. Operators who choose the second option should continuously 
monitor their farm taps for heightened levels of risk under their DIMP. 
All operators of farm taps, moreover, should comply with other 
regulatorily required programs (e.g., Sec. Sec.  192.603(c)(4) Abnormal 
Operations; 192.613(a) Continuing Surveillance; and, 192.617 
Investigation of Failures).
    PHMSA is issuing this document while it continues to evaluate and 
analyze the technical aspects of this matter. This exercise of 
enforcement discretion will remain in effect until further notice. 
Nothing in this document prohibits PHMSA from rescinding this document 
and pursuing an enforcement action if it determines that a significant 
safety issue warrants doing so. Furthermore, this document does not 
relieve operators from compliance with any other applicable provisions 
of the pipeline safety regulations.

    Issued in Washington DC on March 20, 2019, under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
Linda Daugherty,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Field Operations.
[FR Doc. 2019-05677 Filed 3-25-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4919-60-P