[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7182-7183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01654]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0151]


Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Natural Gas Pipeline 
Company of America, LLC

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: PHMSA is publishing this notice to solicit public comments on 
a request for special permit received from the Natural Gas Pipeline 
Company of America, LLC (NGPL). The special permit request is seeking 
relief from compliance with certain requirements in the Federal 
pipeline safety regulations. At the conclusion of the 30-day comment 
period, PHMSA will review the comments received from this notice as 
part of its evaluation to grant or deny the special permit request.

DATES: Submit any comments regarding this special permit request by 
February 25, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments should reference the docket number for this special 
permit request and may be submitted in the following ways:
     E-Gov Website: 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 System: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: Docket Management System: U.S. Department 
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: You should identify the docket number for the special 
permit request you are commenting on at the beginning of your comments. 
If you submit your comments by mail, please submit two (2) copies. To 
receive confirmation that PHMSA has received your comments, please 
include a self-addressed stamped postcard. Internet users may submit 
comments at http://www.Regulations.gov.
    Note: There is a privacy statement published on http://www.Regulations.gov. Comments, including any personal information 
provided, are posted without changes or edits to http://www.Regulations.gov.
    Confidential Business Information: Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both 
customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from 
public disclosure. If your comments responsive to this notice contain 
commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as 
private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or 
responsive to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate 
the submitted comments as CBI. Pursuant to 49 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) 190.343, you may ask PHMSA to give confidential 
treatment to information you give to the agency by taking the following 
steps: (1) Mark each page of the original document submission 
containing CBI as ``Confidential''; (2) send PHMSA, along with the 
original document, a second copy of the original document with the CBI 
deleted; and (3) explain why the information you are submitting is CBI. 
Unless you are notified otherwise, PHMSA will treat such marked 
submissions as confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed 
in the public docket of this notice. Submissions containing CBI should 
be sent to Kay McIver, DOT, PHMSA-PHP-80, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. Any commentary PHMSA receives that is not 
specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for 
this matter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    General: Ms. Kay McIver by telephone at 202-366-0113, or by email 
at [email protected].
    Technical: Mr. Steve Nanney by telephone at 713-272-2855, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PHMSA received a special permit request from 
NGPL, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, Inc., seeking a waiver from the 
requirements of 49 CFR 192.611(a) and (d): Change in class location:

[[Page 7183]]

Confirmation or revision of maximum allowable operating pressure, and 
49 CFR 192.619(a): Maximum allowable operating pressure: Steel or 
plastic pipelines. This special permit is being requested in lieu of 
pipe replacement or pressure reduction for 10 pipeline segments 
totaling 21,141 feet (approximately 4 miles) of 30-inch diameter pipe 
on the Gulf Coast Line #1 and the Gulf Coast Line #2 Pipelines, located 
in Polk County, Texas. The proposed special permit will allow operation 
of the original Class 1 pipe in the Class 3 locations.
    The proposed special permit would allow NGPL to uprate the Gulf 
Coast Line #1 and Gulf Coast Line #2 Pipelines from a current 715 
pounds per square inch gauge (psig) maximum allowable operating 
pressure (MAOP) to an 858 psig MAOP. The pipeline MAOP uprating is for 
a new NGPL 2021 contractual obligation to deliver 300,000 dekatherms 
per day of incremental natural gas volumes to the Cheniere Corpus 
Christi, Texas Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal.
    The Gulf Coast Line #1 Pipeline was constructed between 1951 and 
1973. The Gulf Coast Line #2 Pipeline was constructed between 1962 and 
1982.
    The special permit request, proposed special permit with 
conditions, and Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) for the NGPL Gulf 
Coast Lines #1 and #2 Pipelines are available for review and public 
comments in Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0151. PHMSA invites interested 
persons to review and submit comments on the special permit request and 
DEA in the docket. Please include any comments on potential safety and 
environmental impacts that may result if the special permit is granted. 
Comments may include relevant data.
    Before issuing a decision on the special permit request, PHMSA will 
evaluate all comments received on or before the comments closing date. 
Comments received after the closing date will be evaluated, if it is 
possible to do so without incurring additional expense or delay. PHMSA 
will consider each relevant comment it receives in making its decision 
to grant or deny this special permit request.

    Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 
1.97.
Alan K. Mayberry,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2021-01654 Filed 1-25-21; 8:45 am]
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