Interpretation Response #PI-79-024 ([John E. Good Associates] [John E. Good])
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: John E. Good Associates
Individual Name: John E. Good
Location State: PA Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
Mr. John E. Good
John E. Good Associates
331 West Miner Street
West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380
Dear Mr. Good:
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has asked us to reply to your letter of April 6, 1979, concerning the legitimacy of proposed local zoning ordinances that would require new dwellings to be set back 300 feet from natural gas transmission lines.
The Materials Transportation Bureau regulates the safety of gas transmission lines by authority of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49 USC 1671 et seq.). Although this statute preempts the power of State and local jurisdictions to prescribe safety regulations for interstate gas transmission lines, neither the statute nor the Federal regulations affect the zoning powers of these jurisdictions over the construction of dwellings. Indeed, the regulations, which are found in 49 CFR Part 192, contemplate the proximity of dwellings along pipeline routes, and prescribe more stringent design, construction, operation, and maintenance requirements as population increases near the pipelines.
We trust that this information is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
/signed/
Cesar DeLeon
Associate Director for
Pipeline Safety Regulation
Materials Transportation Bureau