Page 18 - Alabama 811 Magazine 2018 Issue 1

by/nhn/scnbl
Gas Plpellne Safety
have wrlllen sevelal eululnns OVCI always lalluws llle reeurnrllendalluns lnlernallullal and [’ubll(Afffllr~ Tllls
llle years regarellng the ofIcn- of the cmc. Transerlpls of llle mdlvldual ls lespunsllale for assuring
Pfll|’If|I1Pl"D(C~s of regulallng GPAC rlleellngs used to be avallable lllal llle eurrenl adrnlnlslrallons
plpellnes l aln remmdcd of tlic on llle PHMSA web slle (the PHMSA regulalury reform pollcics ale bclng

analogy of makmg sausage and passlng well ~llc ls currently belng upgradcd lrllplelnenled. Al llle seeand cmc
leglslallun —both an be extremely and full mnnlunallly llas yel to be lneellng, llls presence was qulle
unpleasanl la walell. l ll-led to End reslured) but are sllll ayallallle ln llle apparent. By llle llllrd cmc lneellng,
llle ullglnalurunlle analogy and, dockcl al lllllllllleylllal/ulls.guu. [have llle puslllan was vacant. clearly,
dependlng an wlllell suuree you all not elleeked llle lalal, bul lypleally PHMSA ls eeneerned wllll llle eusl
belleve, llulll ollu yun Bismarck (1315 eaell cmc gas Mega Rule rneellng of llle proposed ellanges but, in my

— 1898) and Mark Twaln (1335 — mm generales surllellllllg close to BUD pages Dp|nlOn, |t would be ln [’HMSA’s besl
offered earnlnenls. As a slreplle,l of lranserlpl lnlelesuas well as llle pulallesbesl
would slrllply add lllal, ln llle end, H I d V 7 lnleresl) Io lry lu get that posltmn filled
sausage ls usually much more palalable “V” "“‘ “ "‘> P°““* as qulckly as pusslble. ln PHMSA’s
Lhan new leglslallun ur new regulatlon. derense, |I ls a POllUC:1lpD~ll|Ul'| and
Bark ln 2011, PHMSA (llle Federal ‘ I ‘ 1 .. . is V’ s i PHMSA ha’ mug’ “ “mt ‘"fl“‘“‘“

L . .« . ,.« . a s, , L regardlng wllu gels Lhl: lab ar wllen.

plpellne sarery regulatory ageney) , 1 V: ly l \‘ ll , ,

slaned llle prueess ul lrllplelnellllng ' ' ‘ Nuw fax a 3n,lmu-ruul repun on
major revlslans to dle regulalluns ’ , . é : , . llle aelual prugress; Nudllng ln
gavel-nlng natural gas plpellnes. nus l “by 1 L “W llle Gas Mega Rule ls all Ihalezlrth
was based on eungresslunal dlleellles , ‘ sllallerlng ln lcrm~ of mqulnng
(leglslallon), mtommnndauons [mm lg ; . 5 —, a E » r E ,, lraeeable, venfiabln and eulnplele

llle Nallonal Tlanspurlallon Safety Q J. L ls § — ‘l« ‘e é s reeurds necessary to eslallllsll sare
Buard (llley lnvesllgale plpellne as well a K V e * ' upelallng pressures for gas plpellnes
as alrllne lncldznts), demands from s 2,: r a >4 The dEVll|.s,ilSl1'1Cy say, ln llle
plpellne safely aellvlsls, rlelnands from ' i‘ - ~ l ‘~ detr1|l~. wllen lllls proeess slalled ln
environmental aellvlsls (wllu dun’l llke v , »« — 2011, llle pulmtal environment was
plpellnes — PERIOD), adverse pubhclty ll g : 7' ,5 ‘ [L re; eunslderably diffcmm PHMSA louknd
relaled to several slgnllleanl lnelelenls, ' \ '\ = A ' ~ at all tlm Input and elullrully lrled

llle results of plpellne lnspeelluns, lnput la accommudale all llle Input from
from slale plpellne safety ageneles, ‘ _ government and llle publlc 7 la llle
and Pl~lMsA's own peleeplluns of :{“‘l“’:;f‘fC‘W“ "‘ ‘h‘ ”“:°‘C“’ 1M“g“V lune of ever lau pages ln llle Federal
what needed to be done The nauee of “ E 1 "‘::‘‘"g‘ "E _ “:"Lh‘“Pl’> Reglsler. In 2017, llle polllleal ellrllale
proposed rulerllalung was pullllslled 2§P‘:%°“, f“““ “:39” W‘; “d H ellanged. The mtcgnty of plpellnes
Aprll8,201b and gelleraled OVQI 400 M“ “ ‘“ P’“P“’“ “" W“ was, and ls, llle prlrnary olaleellve.

_ quallfind to pl1rl|:lpaIL‘;PHl\/lSA}|ad V ,

eulnlnenls (over woo pagesl). As Md _ ‘ h V k” d Huwever, eeunulnle iactun were

of January 2013, llle prueess ls ~tlIl 3:“ ‘ ’ °"‘“‘f °’ ‘“ ‘“’P"“ ‘f finally reeugnlzed as a eunslderallun
gulng on. we dale, thcrr: have been '° ‘ ‘°"‘"‘““” ‘“‘“"’““‘ d“"“3 9 wllere ean llrnlled resuurees be besl
Lllree rneellngs of ale cas Plpellne P“P"°d“°‘“1"}‘“' P”'°‘‘' “"1 PHMSA lnvesled to enllanee plpellne ~afaty’
Advisory CDmm|((EC (CPACD Tlle ”‘”"“ ' “‘ ‘M “‘ my °P‘"'°“' "‘°" PHMSA llad been prurllullng l-lsk-
CPACllas15 members —5 each from °|’;“ ‘: d'l“."_’5““ WM‘ ““*’““ '° llased regulalluns (a goud dung’) but
gavel-nulenl, llae gas plpellne lndustry, '“ “" ““ "°""’ PHMSA’- euneepl of what I! eusls lo
and llle pubIlc— and PHMSA alnlusl one lssue of pnrwlxal euneeln relales to uperale a plpellne ls, ln my Cxpnnencz,

llle PHMSA Dlmclor of cuvernrnenlal,
16 . Alabarvusll 2a1E,lssue1