# Cover

**Citation:** RCSA § 16-280b-B18  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority  
**Effective:** 2025-06-11  
**Published:** 2025-06-11

(a) Below-ground Mains, except at transitions to above-ground Mains, shall be installed with a minimum cover of 30 inches, unless the: (1) Operator approves a variance for cover less than 30 inches; (2) Authority approves, in writing, prior to the Pipeline being Placed In Service, a variance for cover less than 18 inch

## Document text

(a) Below-ground Mains, except at transitions to above-ground Mains, shall be installed with a minimum cover of 30 inches, unless the: (1) Operator approves a variance for cover less than 30 inches; (2) Authority approves, in writing, prior to the Pipeline being Placed In Service, a variance for cover less than 18 inches; and (3) Records of each approved variance include the reason for the variance, the location of the variance, cover measurements and any protection measures utilized. (b) Appurtenances installed on Mains do not need to comply with the requirement of subsection (a) of this section. (c) Below-ground Service Lines, except for risers that terminate above-ground, shall be installed with a minimum cover of 24 inches unless the: (1) Operator approves a variance for cover less than 24 inches; (2) Authority approves, in writing, prior to the Pipeline being Placed In Service, a variance for cover less than 12 inches; and (3) Records of each approved variance include the reason for the variance, the location of the variance, cover measurements and any protection measures utilized.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://eregulations.ct.gov/eRegsPortal/Search/getDocument?guid=%7BE04F6097-0000-CC1C-9D68-25A0BA411C82%7D>
- Source ID: `ct-sots-rcsa-16-280b`
- SHA-256: `68c3747a8b60da50d86b33ad53b1bccedbf664387dcc0a1eec82ce485a666fc4`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-12T07:07:58.041Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T15:37:27.016Z
- Document slug: `ct-rcsa-16-280b-b18`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "jurisdiction": "US-CT",
  "subtitle": "16-280b",
  "series": "B",
  "sectionNumber": 18,
  "secretaryFileNumber": 6446,
  "trackingNumber": "PR2023-019",
  "effectiveDateEvidence": "Secretary of the State confirmation states that the regulation became effective June 11, 2025.",
  "scopeCaveat": "This corpus contains all 117 dedicated pipeline-safety sections newly codified as RCSA 16-280b-A1 through A75, B1 through B32, and C1 through C10 by Connecticut Secretary of the State File Number 6446. The filing also amends four adjacent legacy utility provisions and repeals eleven obsolete 16-11 provisions; those actions are retained as provenance and inventory rather than mixed into the dedicated searchable corpus.",
  "applicabilityCaveat": "Applicability varies by natural-gas or petroleum-gas operator, public-service-company status, pipeline facility, master-meter or petroleum-gas distribution system, activity, waiver, and federal jurisdiction. PURA states that Connecticut has no intrastate transmission or gathering lines and that hazardous-liquid pipelines remain under PHMSA jurisdiction.",
  "incorporationCaveat": "The rules supplement and repeatedly incorporate federal pipeline requirements, generally as amended from time to time, and rely on Connecticut statutes and external standards. References are recorded without reproducing incorporated material or deciding federal preemption or facility-specific legal effect.",
  "publicationCaveat": "The authenticated final filing was posted to the Connecticut eRegulations System and became effective June 11, 2025. It is used instead of the older browse pages, some of which still display pre-2025 text and stale update labels.",
  "rights": "Official Connecticut legal and agency materials are retained with attribution and cryptographic provenance. State marks, site presentation, forms, annotations, and incorporated federal or privately authored material require separate review.",
  "rightsReviewRequired": true,
  "region": "CT"
}
```