Hydrocarbon Processing - June 2021 - GP-21

SPECIAL FOCUS: PIPELINES AND TRANSPORT
Pipelines update: PHMSA regulations
and the PIPES Act of 2020
W. VANDIVER, NuGen Automation, Houston, Texas
With the reauthorization of the PIPES
Act (i.e., Protecting our Infrastructure
of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act
of 2020), the oil and gas industry is in
line for changes that will have an effect
on nearly every pipeline operator. In addition
to an increase in funding for the
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA), the agency
was given several mandates to issue final
rules throughout the industry.
Many of the final rules have been a
long time in coming and are the result of
PHMSA's slow pace in responding to industry
incidents and concerns. Now that
the agency has deadlines, however, operators
will be seeing changes in several
sections of the 49 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) Part 192 ( " Transportation
of natural and other gas by pipeline:
Minimum federal safety standards " ) and
49 CFR Part 195 ( " Transportation of hazardous
liquids by pipeline " ) (FIG. 1).
In addition to a new disclosure consideration
for pipelines facing violation penalties,
the affected areas of operation are
the new classification of idled pipelines,
large-scale LNG facilities, onshore gas
gathering lines and updated leak detection
standards for gas pipelines, each of which
are discussed with relation to events bringing
about the mandate and how operators
likely will be affected by the final rules.
PHMSA has some work to do, and
operators will be feeling the effects in the
coming years. In late 2020, former President
Trump signed into law the reauthorization
of the PIPES Act.1
The original legislation,
the PIPES Act of 2016, recently
expired,2
but the new version sets goals
and objectives to further the government's
efforts to build a safer industry through
increased administration and rulemaking.
One of the most impactful benefits
of the act is the increase in general funding
for PHMSA safety programs through
2023, including an increase in personnel
and federal grant programs.3
However,
many of the mandates will have a direct
impact on operator compliance, and most
regulation updates are slated to take place
within the next 3 yr. With so much change
on the horizon, operators will benefit from
looking ahead to know what regulations
might impact their operations.
Disclosure consideration. Among the
changes brought about by the PIPES Act
of 2020 is the addition of an operator's
self-disclosure of an issue as part of violation
considerations.4
to considerations for civil penalties5
This amendment
is a
benefit for operators. Moving forward,
any civil penalties for violations relating to
pipeline facility compliance regulations6
and certain one-call notification regulations7
will
be calculated with the consideration
of an operator's proactive attempts
to correct known violations or self-disclosure
of such violations before PHMSA
discovers the violation on its own.
This amendment appears to be a form
of reward to operators that not only take
measures to correct compliance issues on
their own but also to those that are honest
about such issues with PHMSA via reporting.
Moreover, the implication is that a lack
of such behavior on the part of an operator
facing civil penalties for violations is likely
to be considered as well, meaning operators
that wait until audits come around and
cannot prove unawareness of violations
are more likely to receive harsher penalties.
Final rule issuances. The PIPES Act of
2020 also requires PHMSA to issue several
final rules within certain timeframes
to increase safety standards across the oil
and gas industry. While the list is extensive,
many operators are likely to feel the
effects of specific changes. In most cases,
the mandates are a response to ongoing
industry concern.
Idle pipelines. In 2019, the American
Petroleum Institute (API), in conjunction
with the Association of Oil Pipe Lines
(AOPL), submitted a request for clarification
of how certain amendments applied
to idle pipelines, referring specifically to
49 CFR Part 195 in the final rule. However,
PHMSA replied that such clarification
was unnecessary because Pipeline Safety
Regulations (PSR) did not consider " idle "
an acceptable status for a pipeline, only
" in-service/active " or " abandoned. "
PHMSA went on to exemplify how
" idle " pipelines could continue to pose
safety risks and must be addressed as " active "
pipelines.8
The PIPES Act of 2020,
however, not only defines " idle " pipelines
but also addresses rulemaking regarding
such assets. Specifically, pipelines now
qualify as " idle " if they have ceased normal
operations and will not resume service
for at least 180 d, have been isolated
from all product sources, and have either
been purged or hold such a small volume
of gas that no potential hazard exists.9
With the recognition of this classification,
PHMSA is now required to provide
regulation for such assets. The act states
that PHMSA's final rule for how PSR apFIG.
1. The PIPES Act of 2020 will bring
changes to several sections of 49 CFR 192 and
49 CFR 195 that will impact pipeline operators.
Gas Processing & LNG | MAY/JUNE 2021 21
Hydrocarbon Processing - June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hydrocarbon Processing - June 2021
