Interpretation Response #PI-12-0009 ([Farnsworth Group] [Mr. Robert E. Polk])
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Farnsworth Group
Individual Name: Mr. Robert E. Polk
Location State: MT Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
Mr. Robert E. Polk
Farnsworth Group
20 Allen Avenue, Suite 200
St. Louis, MO 63119
Dear Mr. Polk:
In a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) dated October 2, 2012, you requested an interpretation of the applicability of the Federal pipeline safety regulations at 49 CFR Part 195. Specifically, you ask whether the pipeline in question is regulated by 49 CFR Part 195 since it never leaves private property, other than crossing a publically accessible road, while transferring crude oil between two adjoining properties.
You stated that Patoka Terminal Company, LLC, is developing a new crude oil unloading station near Patoka, Illinois to collect and store crude oil delivered from surrounding fields to the new facility by tanker trucks. Crude oil will then exit the new storage tanks through a separate 10-inch suction pipe connected to a new deep well pump operating at an average rate of 2,600 BPH. The pump will deliver crude oil in 60,000 BBL batches to the adjoining Chicap terminal by a new 10-inch delivery pipeline. The length of the new 10-inch delivery pipeline from the new meter to the new custody flange on Chicap property is approximately 3,000 feet. The Chicap terminal property is located north of and immediately adjoining the Patoka Terminal property. The common property line between the two properties is also the centerline of Dickey Pond Road. This road is approximately 20 feet wide (two lanes) and is accessible to the public for public use. The road is not located within any platted public right-of-way nor any recorded easement.
You believe this line is classified as a Category 3 rural low-stress pipeline meeting the requirements of both §§ 195.12(b)(3)(i) and 195.12(b)(3)(ii). Therefore, your request for interpretation is whether the 3,000 feet, 10-inch diameter transfer pipeline between the storage tanks on your client's property and the storage tanks on the Chicap terminal property are regulated under 49 CFR Part 195.
We agree that the 3,000 foot line in question meets the classification of a Category 3 rural low- stress pipeline. However, the line is regulated under Part 195.
The exemption under 49 CFR 195.1(b)(9)(ii) states:
§ 195.1(b) Excepted. This Part does not apply to any of the following:
...
(9) Transportation of hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide:
...
(ii) Through facilities located on the grounds of a materials transportation terminal if the facilities are used exclusively to transfer hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide between non-pipeline modes of transportation or between a non-pipeline mode and a pipeline.
We believe that the trucking unloading racks, upstream lines, piping, up to tanks 401 and 402 meet the exemption in § 195.1.(b)(9)(ii) for transportation between a non-pipeline mode and a pipeline.
The new 3000 feet 10-inch line between the facilities does not meet this exemption. The line would be regulated downstream from the outlet of the pump feeding the 10-inch line in question. Since the 10-inch line starts on one company's property and ends on another company's property it is not a plant piping and crossing a public road does not come into play. It is also not a pipeline supplying refining, manufacturing, or truck, rail, or vessel terminal facilities as in exemption under § 195.1(b)(3)(ii), but is transporting hazardous liquid to a header with multiple sales points. Therefore, we believe, this line does not meet any of exemptions under § 195.1(b).
I hope that this information is helpful to you. If we can be of further assistance, please contact Tewabe Asebe of my staff at (202) 366-5523.
Sincerely,
John A. Gale
Director, Office of Standards and Rulemaking
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety provides written clarifications of the Regulations (49 CFR Parts 190-199) in the form of interpretation letters. These letters reflect the agency's current application of the regulations to the specific facts presented by the person requesting the clarification. Interpretations do not create legally-enforceable rights or obligations and are provided to help the public understand how to comply with the regulations.