# Heating Value Limits

**Citation:** COMAR 20.55.08.04  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** Maryland Public Service Commission  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** Not stated

Maryland pipeline-safety provision COMAR 20.55.08.04, Heating Value Limits.

## Document text

When the heating value of the gas distributed in the system is under the control of the utility, the following limits shall apply:

A. Daily Btu. The average heating value on any one day may not exceed or fall below the total heating value (see COMAR 20.55.03.03B(2)) by more than 5 percent, except that the heating value may be increased by more than 5 percent during peak shaving or emergency operations in order to maintain the proper combustibility of the gas supplied to the customer.

B. Monthly Average Btu. The monthly average heating value shall be not less than the total heating value filed in the utility's tariff.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/20.55.08.04>
- Source ID: `maryland-comar`
- SHA-256: `93eb6b4c3cc5e0ea78642bcdf5013c2637133ee08a5577430abd698265d4e2a2`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T08:47:37.108Z
- Exported: 2026-08-27T03:19:17.466Z
- Document slug: `md-comar-20-55-08-04`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "jurisdiction": "US-MD",
  "commodity": [
    "natural-gas",
    "other-gas"
  ],
  "legalScope": "Bounded Maryland PSC pipeline-safety rules in COMAR 20.55-20.57.",
  "applicabilityCaveat": "Maryland PSC enforcement under PHMSA certification is limited to intrastate gas and hazardous-liquid pipeline operators and applicable LPG systems. PHMSA retains inspection and enforcement responsibility for interstate gas and hazardous-liquid pipelines. Coverage also depends on operator class, gas-company or master-meter status, facility and commodity definitions, exemptions, waivers, and federal preemption.",
  "incorporationCaveat": "Maryland provisions use both fixed editions of private or federal guidance and prospective phrases such as 'as amended' for federal statutes and 49 CFR. This connector preserves the consolidated Maryland text retrieved on the stated date but does not infer that every later federal amendment is incorporated for every legal purpose. Verify the controlling Maryland incorporation rule, federal edition, and event date.",
  "publicationCaveat": "The Library of Maryland Regulations is the official consolidated access system, but the Maryland Register and filed rulemaking record control adoption history. Administrative-history notes are evidence aids, not substitutes for the promulgation record. The PSC program description is dated September 2011 and is used only to corroborate program scope, not current rule text.",
  "rightsCaveat": "Official Maryland and federal legal-source captures are preserved with attribution and hashes. State presentation, seals, site software, and incorporated private standards may carry separate rights; incorporated standards are referenced but not reproduced by this connector.",
  "references": [
    {
      "citation": "COMAR 20.55.03.03",
      "referenceType": "state-administrative-rule",
      "url": "https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/20.55.03.03"
    }
  ],
  "region": "MD"
}
```