[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