[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53877-53880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14116]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 192

[Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0255; Amdt. No. 192-136]
RIN 2137-AF06


Pipeline Safety: Requirement of Valve Installation and Minimum 
Rupture Detection Standards: Response to Petition for Reconsideration; 
Additional Technical Corrections

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

ACTION: Correction amendments; response to petition for 
reconsideration.

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SUMMARY: In response to a Petition for Reconsideration of an August 1, 
2023, technical correction rule, PHMSA is issuing additional 
corrections codifying a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) regarding the final rule 
titled ``Pipeline Safety: Requirement of Valve Installation and Minimum 
Rupture Detection Standards.''

DATES: These amendments are effective as of June 28, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Jagger, Senior Transportation 
Specialist, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at 202-
366-4361.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 8, 2022, PHMSA published a final 
rule titled ``Pipeline Safety: Requirement of Valve Installation and 
Minimum Rupture Detection Standards'' \1\ (Valve Rule) amending the 
Federal pipeline safety regulations (49 CFR parts 190 through 199) to, 
among other provisions, require the installation of rupture-mitigation 
valves (RMV) or alternative equivalent technologies and establish 
minimum performance standards for the operation of those valves to 
mitigate the public safety and

[[Page 53878]]

environmental consequences of ruptures on gas and hazardous liquid 
(including carbon dioxide) pipelines. On May 16, 2023, the D.C. Circuit 
vacated the Valve Rule's regulatory amendments as they applied to 
gathering pipelines (gathering lines).\2\
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    \1\ 87 FR 20940 (Apr. 8, 2022).
    \2\ See GPA Midstream Ass'n v. U.S. Dep't of Transp., 67 F.4th 
1188 (D.C. Cir. 2023). The court left in place those regulations as 
applied to gas and hazardous liquid transmission pipelines.
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    Subsequently, on August 1, 2023, PHMSA issued ``Pipeline Safety: 
Requirement of Valve Installation and Minimum Rupture Detection 
Standards: Technical Corrections,'' 88 FR 50056 (Aug. 1, 2023) 
(Correction Rule), which updated provisions of the pipeline safety 
regulations, as amended by the Valve Rule, to codify the D.C. Circuit's 
decision. On August 30, 2023, the American Petroleum Institute (API) 
and GPA Midstream Association (GPA) jointly filed a Petition for 
Reconsideration (Petition) of the Correction Rule. The Petition 
requested two regulatory amendments pertaining to the D.C. Circuit's 
May 2023 decision.
    First, API and GPA noted that, although Sec.  192.9(c) provides an 
exception for Type A gathering lines from the requirements at Sec.  
192.617(b) through (d), corresponding references to Type A gathering 
lines remained within Sec.  192.617(c) and (d). API and GPA requested 
PHMSA remove those references within Sec.  192.617(c) and (d) to better 
conform to the D.C. Circuit decision.
    Second, API and GPA also noted that, although PHMSA amended the 
definition of ``notification of potential rupture'' at Sec. Sec.  192.3 
and 195.2 to exclude gathering lines, that exclusion was not made 
explicit within a companion provision in operating requirements at 
Sec.  192.635(a). API and GPA requested PHMSA add a disclaimer to Sec.  
192.635 to align with the changes made to the definition for 
``notification of potential rupture'' to conform with the D.C. Circuit 
order specifying that Sec.  192.635(a) is not applicable to gas 
gathering lines. PHMSA recently granted the Petition by response letter 
to GPA and API.\3\
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    \3\ PHMSA's response to API and GPA's Petition and Supplement 
Letter can be found in rulemaking docket no. PHMSA-2013-0255 on 
www.regulations.gov. PHMSA incorporates by reference its response in 
its entirety within this Notice.
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    On September 22, 2023, GPA and API filed a ``Supplement Letter'' to 
the Petition requesting revision of Sec.  195.418(b)(2)(ii) (regarding 
the spacing interval of shut-off valves on transmission pipeline 
segments carrying highly volatile liquids) and the groups filed an 
additional ``Supplement Letter'' on May 30, 2024, requesting revision 
of Sec.  195.260(c) (regarding spacing from endpoints of transmission 
pipeline segments in high consequence areas). PHMSA denied each of 
these supplements as an untimely petition for reconsideration, and, 
according to Sec.  190.335(a), will assess them as petitions for 
rulemaking under Sec. Sec.  190.331 and 190.333.

I. Conforming Corrections Implementing Judicial Decision

    In response to the August 30, 2023, Petition, PHMSA makes the 
following further amendments to the pipeline safety regulations in 
conformity with the D.C. Circuit decision. PHMSA revises Sec.  
192.617(b) through (d) to remove references to Type A gas gathering 
lines from those requirements and clarify that those provisions are 
inapplicable to gas gathering lines. Additionally, PHMSA revises Sec.  
192.635 to add a disclaimer explicitly stating that section does not 
apply to gas gathering lines within a new paragraph (c) to align with 
the previously revised definition for ``notification of potential 
rupture'' at Sec.  192.3. Making these amendments conforms to the D.C. 
Circuit decision.

II. Regulatory Analyses and Notices

A. Statutory/Legal Authority and Good Cause for Immediate Adoption 
Without Prior Notice and Comment

    This document is published under the authority of the Secretary of 
Transportation delegated to the PHMSA Administrator pursuant to 49 CFR 
1.97. Among the statutory authorities delegated to PHMSA are the 
authorities vested in the Secretary under the Federal Pipeline Safety 
Statutes (49 U.S.C. 60101 et seq.). Section 60102(a) authorizes 
issuance of regulations governing design, installation, inspection, 
emergency plans and procedures, testing, construction, extension, 
operation, replacement, and maintenance of pipeline facilities. See 
also 49 U.S.C. 60102(n) (requiring the Secretary to issue regulations 
requiring the installation of RMVs or equivalent technology on new and 
entirely replaced transmission lines). Other authorities delegated to 
PHMSA include 49 U.S.C. 5103 (regulatory authority to prescribe 
regulations for transportation of hazardous materials) and 30 U.S.C. 
185(w)(3) (authority to prescribe reporting requirements for pipelines 
traversing Federal lands).\4\
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    \4\ See also 87 FR at 20978 (Valve Rule statutory authorities).
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    PHMSA finds it has good cause to make the judicially conforming 
corrections without notice and comment pursuant to section 553(b) of 
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA, 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.). Section 
553(b)(B) of the APA provides that, when an agency for good cause finds 
that notice and public procedure are impracticable, unnecessary, or 
contrary to the public interest, the agency may issue a rule without 
providing notice and an opportunity for public comment. The APA good 
cause exception applies ``when rulemaking without notice and comment is 
a reasonable and perhaps inevitable response to a court order'' such 
that the court order would make additional comment ``utterly 
unnecessary.'' EME Homer City Generation, LP v. EPA, 795 F.3d 118, 134-
35 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (internal quotations omitted). These corrections 
rectify unintended omissions from PHMSA's August 1, 2023, Correction 
Rule to ensure the regulations conform with judicial review of the 
final Valve Rule. Good cause exists to further ensure part 192 conforms 
with the D.C. Circuit's order,\5\ and PHMSA finds that additional 
comment on these corrections is unnecessary as no comment here can 
``change[ ] that fact'' of the court's order to vacate the Valve Rule 
amendments as to gathering lines. See EME Homer, 795 F.3d at 135.
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    \5\ GPA Midstream Ass'n, 67 F.4th at 1202.
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    Similarly, good cause authorizes the immediate effective date of 
these additional corrections. Section 553(d)(3) of the APA provides 
that a rule should take effect not less than 30 days after publication 
in the Federal Register, except for when good cause is found by the 
agency and published within the rule allowing for earlier effect. 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3). ``[T]he purpose of the thirty-day waiting period is 
to give affected parties a reasonable time to adjust their behavior 
before the final rule takes effect.'' Omnipoint Corp. v. F.C.C., 78 
F.3d 620, 630 (D.C. Cir. 1996). PHMSA finds that, for the same reasons 
stated above, there is good cause under section 553(d)(3) of the APA to 
make these revisions effective immediately upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

B. Executive Order 12866 and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures

    This document has been evaluated in accordance with Executive Order 
12866 (``Regulatory Planning and Review''),\6\ Executive Order 14094 
(``Modernizing Regulatory Review''),\7\ and DOT Order 2100.6A 
(``Rulemaking and Guidance

[[Page 53879]]

Procedures'') and is considered not significant; therefore, this 
document has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). PHMSA finds that the conforming corrections herein impose no 
incremental compliance costs beyond those assessed earlier in the Valve 
Rule, nor do they adversely affect safety, as the corrections merely 
codify the results of judicial review limiting the scope of application 
of the Valve Rule, and otherwise are consistent with the Valve Rule.
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    \6\ 58 FR 51735 (Oct. 4, 1993).
    \7\ 88 FR 21879 (Apr. 11, 2023).
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C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, as 
amended by the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Fairness Act of 
1996 (RFA, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), do not apply when the agency finds 
good cause under the APA to adopt a rule without prior notice and 
comment.\8\ Because PHMSA has ``good cause'' under the APA to forego 
comment on the corrections herein, no RFA analysis is required.
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    \8\ See 5 U.S.C. 603-604. See also Small Business 
Administration, ``A Guide for Government Agencies: How to Comply 
with the Regulatory Flexibility Act'' 55 (2017).
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D. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The corrections in this document impose no new or revised 
information collection requirements. As explained above, the changes 
being made in this document are non-substantive, and they will require 
no change to the current incident and annual reporting forms and their 
respective instructions as discussed in the preamble of the Valve Rule.

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    PHMSA analyzed the corrections in this document pursuant to the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) and 
determined that the corrections do not impose enforceable duties of 
$100 million or more, adjusted for inflation, in any one year, on 
state, local, or tribal governments, or on the private sector. Because 
the corrections impose no new incremental compliance costs beyond those 
already assessed in the Valve Rule, PHMSA's earlier UMRA analysis 
prepared for the Valve Rule need not be changed.\9\
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    \9\ Final Regulatory Impact Analysis, Doc. No. PHMSA-2013-0255-
0046.
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F. National Environmental Policy Act

    The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.) requires Federal agencies to prepare a detailed statement on 
major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human 
environment. PHMSA analyzed the Valve Rule in accordance with NEPA, 
implementing Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 
1500 through 1508), and DOT implementing policies (DOT Order 5610.1C, 
``Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts'') and determined 
the Valve Rule would not significantly affect the quality of the human 
environment.\10\ PHMSA has determined that the corrections in this 
document have no effect on its earlier NEPA analysis, as the 
corrections simply reflect the Valve Rule as modified by judicial 
review.
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    \10\ Final Environmental Assessment, Doc. No. PHMSA-2013-0255-
0045.
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G. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    PHMSA has analyzed this document in accordance with the principles 
and criteria contained in Executive Order 13132 (``Federalism'').\11\ 
PHMSA has previously determined that the Valve Rule did not impose any 
substantial direct effect on the States, the relationship between the 
National Government and the States, or the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government, see 87 FR at 
20978. Because the judicially conforming corrections herein are 
consistent with the Valve Rule as modified by judicial review, the 
consultation and funding requirements of Executive Order 13132 do not 
apply.\12\
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    \11\ 64 FR 43255 (Aug. 10, 1999).
    \12\ Moreover, PHMSA determined that the Valve Rule did not 
impose substantial direct compliance costs on state and local 
governments.
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H. Executive Order 13211

    PHMSA analyzed the Valve Rule and determined that the requirements 
of Executive Order 13211 (``Actions Concerning Regulations that 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'') \13\ did 
not apply. These judicially conforming corrections to the Valve Rule 
are not a ``significant energy action'' under Executive Order 13211, as 
they are not a significant regulatory action, and they are not likely 
to have a significant adverse effect on supply, distribution, or energy 
use. Further, OMB has not designated the corrections herein as a 
significant energy action.
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    \13\ 66 FR 28355 (May 22, 2001).
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I. Executive Order 13175

    This document was analyzed in accordance with the principles and 
criteria contained in Executive Order 13175 (``Consultation and 
Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments'') \14\ and DOT Order 
5301.1 (``Department of Transportation Policies, Programs, and 
Procedures Affecting American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Tribes''). 
Because none of the corrections in this final rule have tribal 
implications or impose substantial direct compliance costs on Indian 
tribal governments, the funding and consultation requirements of 
Executive Order 13175 do not apply.
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    \14\ 65 FR 67249 (Nov. 6, 2000).
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J. Executive Order 13609 and International Trade Analysis

    Under Executive Order 13609 (``Promoting International Regulatory 
Cooperation''),\15\ agencies must consider whether the impacts 
associated with significant variations between domestic and 
international regulatory approaches are unnecessary or may impair the 
ability of American business to export and compete internationally. In 
meeting shared challenges involving health, safety, labor, security, 
environmental, and other issues, international regulatory cooperation 
can identify approaches that are at least as protective as those that 
are or would be adopted in the absence of such cooperation. 
International regulatory cooperation can also reduce, eliminate, or 
prevent unnecessary differences in regulatory requirements. The 
judicially conforming corrections to the Valve Rule in this document do 
not impact international trade.
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    \15\ 77 FR 26413 (May 4, 2012).
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K. Regulation Identifier Number (RIN)

    A RIN is assigned to each regulatory action listed in the Unified 
Agenda of Federal Regulations. The Regulatory Information Service 
Center publishes the Unified Agenda in April and October of each year. 
The RIN contained in the heading of this document can be used to cross-
reference this action with the Unified Agenda.

L. Severability

    The purpose of these corrections is to conform with the outcome of 
judicial review of the Valve Rule. The provisions amended herein focus 
on disparate topics. Therefore, PHMSA finds that each correction in 
this rule is severable and able to function independently from the 
others. Further, these provisions are severable from the Correction 
Rule and from the Valve Rule. In the event a court were to invalidate 
one or more of the unique amendments in this rule, the remaining 
provisions should stand, thus allowing their continued effect.

[[Page 53880]]

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 192

    Gas, Natural Gas, Pipeline Safety, Reporting and Recordkeeping 
Requirements.

    In consideration of the foregoing, PHMSA makes the following 
correcting amendments to 49 CFR part 192:

PART 192--TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: 
MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 192 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 30 U.S.C. 185(w)(3), 49 U.S.C. 5103, 60101 et. seq., 
and 49 CFR 1.97.


0
2. Amend Sec.  192.617 by revising paragraphs (b), (c) introductory 
text, and (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  192.617  Investigation of failures and incidents.

* * * * *
    (b) Post-failure and incident lessons learned. Each operator of a 
transmission or distribution pipeline must develop, implement, and 
incorporate lessons learned from a post-failure or incident review into 
its written procedures, including personnel training and qualification 
programs; and design, construction, testing, maintenance, operations, 
and emergency procedure manuals and specifications.
    (c) Analysis of rupture and valve shutoffs. If an incident on an 
onshore gas transmission pipeline involves the closure of a rupture-
mitigation valve (RMV), as defined at Sec.  192.3, or the closure of 
alternative equivalent technology, the operator of the pipeline must 
also conduct a post-incident analysis of all of the factors that may 
have impacted the release volume and the consequences of the incident 
and identify and implement operations and maintenance measures to 
prevent or minimize the consequences of a future incident. The 
requirements of this paragraph (c) are not applicable to gas 
distribution or gas gathering pipelines. The analysis must include all 
relevant factors impacting the release volume and consequences, 
including, but not limited to, the following:
* * * * *
    (d) Rupture post-failure and incident summary. If a failure or 
incident on an onshore gas transmission pipeline involves the 
identification of a rupture following a notification of potential 
rupture, or the closure of an RMV (as those terms are defined at Sec.  
192.3), or the closure of an alternative equivalent technology, the 
operator of the pipeline must complete a summary of the post-failure or 
incident review required by paragraph (c) of this section within 90 
days of the incident, and while the investigation is pending, conduct 
quarterly status reviews until the investigation is complete and a 
final post-incident summary is prepared. The final post-failure or 
incident summary, and all other reviews and analyses produced under the 
requirements of this section, must be reviewed, dated, and signed by 
the'operator's appropriate senior executive officer. The final post-
failure or incident summary, all investigation and analysis documents 
used to prepare it, and records of lessons learned must be kept for the 
useful life of the pipeline. The requirements of this paragraph (d) are 
not applicable to gas distribution or gas gathering pipelines.

0
3. Amend Sec.  192.635 by adding paragraph (c) to read as follows:


Sec.  192.635  Notification of potential rupture.

* * * * *
    (c) This section does not apply to any gas gathering line.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 20, 2024, under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
Tristan H. Brown,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-14116 Filed 6-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P