[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 145 (Thursday, July 31, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36093-36094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14505]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2025-0012]
Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),
DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the two information
collection requests abstracted below are being forwarded to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. A Federal
Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the
information collections was published on May 7, 2025.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
September 2, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The public is invited to submit comments regarding these
information collection requests, including suggestions for reducing the
burden, to Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk
Officer for the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be submitted
electronically at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Hill by email at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section 1320.8(d),
requires the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) to provide interested members of the public and affected
agencies the opportunity to comment on information collection and
recordkeeping requests before they are submitted to OMB for approval.
In accordance with this regulation, on May 7, 2025, PHMSA published a
Federal Register notice (90 FR 19369) with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on its intent to request OMB's renewed approval of
the two information collection requests that are due to expire on
November 30, 2025.
During the 60-day comment period, PHMSA received no comments
pertaining to the proposed renewal of the impacted information
collections.
[[Page 36094]]
II. Summary of Impacted Collections
PHMSA will request a three-year term of approval for each of the
following information collection activities. The following information
is provided for each information collection: (1) Title of the
information collection; (2) OMB control number; (3) Current expiration
date; (4) Type of request; (5) Abstract of the information collection
activity; (6) Description of affected public; (7) Estimate of total
annual reporting and recordkeeping burden; and (8) Frequency of
collection.
PHMSA requests comments on the following:
1. Title: ``Rupture Mitigation Valve Recordkeeping Requirements''.
OMB Control Number: 2137-0637.
Current Expiration Date: 11/30/2025.
Abstract: Operators who have experienced a rupture or rupture-
mitigation valve shut-off are required to complete a post-incident
review. The post-incident summary, all investigation and analysis
documents used to prepare it, and records of lessons learned must be
kept for the life of the pipeline.
Operators must also develop written rupture identification
procedures to evaluate and identify whether a notification of potential
rupture is an actual rupture event or non-rupture event as soon as
practicable. These procedures must, at a minimum, specify the sources
of information, operational factors, and other criteria that operator
personnel use to evaluate a notification of potential rupture.
Operators are also required to maintain certain records if they
experience certain circumstances involving their rupture-mitigation
valve operations.
Affected Public: Operators of PHMSA-regulated pipelines.
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
Total Annual Responses: 4,213.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 85,724.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
2. Title: ``Rupture Mitigation Valve Notification Requirements''.
OMB Control Number: 2137-0638.
Current Expiration Date: 11/30/2025.
Abstract: 49 CFR 192.634 and 49 CFR 195.418 require operators who
elect to use alternative equivalent technology to notify PHMSA's Office
of Pipeline Safety at least 90 days in advance of use. An operator
choosing this option must include a technical and safety evaluation,
including design, construction, and operating procedures for the
alternative equivalent technology with the notification.
Operators must notify PHMSA if a rupture-mitigation valve cannot be
made operational within 14 days of installation. Operators must also
notify PHMSA if a valve cannot be repaired or replaced within 12
months.
An operator may seek exemption from certain regulatory requirements
by notifying PHMSA in certain instances. An operator may plan to leave
a rupture-mitigation valve open for more than 30 minutes following a
rupture identification if the operator demonstrates to PHMSA, that
closing a rupture mitigation valve, or alternative equivalent
technology, would be detrimental to public safety. Likewise, for
hazardous liquid pipeline segments in a non-high consequence area (HCA)
or a non-HCA could-affect segment, an operator may request exemption
from certain requirements if it can demonstrate to PHMSA that
installing an otherwise-required rupture-mitigation valve, or
alternative equivalent technology, would be economically, technically,
or operationally infeasible.
Affected Public: Operators of PHMSA-regulated pipelines.
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
Total Annual Responses: 598.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,378.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Comments are invited on:
(a) The need for this information collections 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.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter
35, as amended, and 49 CFR 1.48.
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 29, 2025, under authority
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
John A. Gale,
Director, Standards and Rulemaking Division.
[FR Doc. 2025-14505 Filed 7-30-25; 8:45 am]
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