The agency came under fire this fall after the fatal Pacific Gas & Electric transmission line explosion near San Francisco in September and crude oil spills on Enbridge Energy Partners' systems in Michigan in July and Illinois in September. Lawmakers said the accidents revealed lax federal
oversight.
In the "advance notice of proposed rulemaking" issued Monday, PHMSA asked whether it should expand the definition of "high-consequence area" (HCA) to subject more miles of pipe to regular inspection.
About 7% of pipelines fall in that designation, meaning they run close to a navigable waterway, a heavily populated area or sensitive environments. But the agency said 76,000 miles, or 44% of the 173,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines it regulates, "could affect" one of those zones.
"Should PHMSA amend the existing criteria in any way which could better focus the identification of an HCA based on risk," the agency asked in the 15-page notice. "Would it be more beneficial to include more miles of pipeline under existing HCA [integrity management] procedures, or, to focus more intense safety measures on the highest-risk, highest-consequence areas?"
PHMSA also asked for comments on whether it should end exemptions for gathering lines, establish standards for minimum leak detection and require emergency shut-off valves. Other proposals include mandating certain spaces between emergency valves, instating repair timelines for pipeline segments that sit outside high-consequence zones, and adopting standards for preventing, detecting and fixing stress corrosion cracking.
"Comments should address the public safety and environmental aspects of new requirements, as well as the cost implications and regulatory burden," PHMSA said.
Comments are due January 18.
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