The PIOGA Press
(by Ashleigh Krick)
On June 7, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an advisory bulletin (ADB) reminding owners and operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities of a self-executing mandate from the “Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2020” (PIPES Act of 2020).
Statutory mandate
The mandate, codified at Section 114(b) of the PIPES Act of 2020, provides that by December 27, 2021, “each pipeline operator shall update the inspection and maintenance plan prepared by the operator under section 60108(a) of title 49, United States Code, to address the elements described in the amendments to that section made by [Section 114(a)].”
Section 114(a) of the PIPES Act of 2020 added to 49 U.S.C. § 60108(a) that, in deciding on the adequacy of an inspection and maintenance plan, PHMSA or a certified state authority must consider the extent to which the plan will contribute to “eliminating hazardous leaks and minimizing releases of natural gas from pipeline facilities” and “the extent to which the plan addresses the replacement or remediation of pipelines that are known to leak based on the material (including cast iron, unprotected steel, wrought iron, and historic plastics with known issues), design, or past operating and maintenance history of the pipeline.”
Additionally, Section 114(a) added to 49 U.S.C. § 60108(a) that inspection and maintenance plans must “meet the requirements of any regulations promulgated under section 60102(q).” Section 60102(q) is a new rulemaking mandate from Section 113 of the PIPES Act of 2020 that requires PHMSA to issue new leak detection rules for operators of regulated gas gathering, transmission, and distribution lines by December 27, 2021.
Section 114(a) also provided that PHMSA or a relevant state authority must review each plan not later than December 27, 2022, and then every five years. …