PHMSA Publishes Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Class Location Change Requirements
The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeks public comment on existing class location requirements for natural gas transmission pipelines at 49 CFR part 192, specifically as they pertain to actions operators are required to take following class location changes due to population growth near the pipeline. Operators have suggested that performing integrity management measures on pipelines where class locations have changed due to population increases would be an equally safe but less costly alternative to the current requirements of either reducing pressure, pressure testing, or replacing pipe. The ANPRM continues a line of discussion from a Notice of Inquiry published in 2013 and a Report to Congress in 2016 regarding whether expanding integrity management requirements would mitigate the need for class location requirements. The comment closing date for this notice will be 60 days from date of publication in the Federal Register.