# Work Approval Requirements

**Citation:** COMAR 20.55.10.04  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** Maryland Public Service Commission  
**Effective:** 2021-06-14  
**Published:** Not stated

Maryland pipeline-safety provision COMAR 20.55.10.04, Work Approval Requirements.

## Document text

A. Each gas company shall incorporate their work approval requirements for both covered and noncovered projects into their written operations and maintenance procedures under 49 CFR Part 192, Transportation of Natural and Other Gas By Pipeline: Minimum Federal Safety Standards, as amended, which is incorporated by reference in Regulation .03 of this chapter.

B. Each gas company shall incorporate their training, initial qualification, and requalification requirements for a Relevant Qualified Person into their written operations and maintenance procedures under 49 CFR Part 192, Transportation of Natural and Other Gas By Pipeline: Minimum Federal Safety Standards, as amended, which is incorporated by reference in Regulation .03 of this chapter.

C. Licensed professional engineers retained by a gas company shall have the necessary knowledge, experience, and skills regarding natural gas distribution systems to review and certify construction plans for accuracy, completeness, and correctness, but are not subject to §B of this regulation.

D. The following types of designed natural gas infrastructure project work are designated as covered projects and require documented approval by a licensed professional engineer:

(1) New installation or modification that creates or alters the designed operating pressure of a district pressure regulator station or gate station.

(2) Installation of new or substantial reconfiguration of compressor stations.

(3) Installation, uprating, or abandonment of intrastate transmission lines.

(4) Any distribution main piping modifications or replacement work falling within the established district regulator awareness zones established by each operator.

(5) Any construction work on distribution mains which uprates the piping maximum allowable operating pressure.

(6) Installation of distribution mains, including replacements and extension projects, which attach to bridges or other engineered structures.

(7) Trenchless technology installations where the force used to pull the pipe and the path that the pipe follows while being pulled might result in damage to the pipe as a consequence of using that technology.

(8) Peak shaving facility installations and modifications or reconfigurations that would alter its pressure delivery characteristics.

(9) Any other designed natural gas infrastructure project work that presents a material risk of high consequence to public safety as determined by the gas company.

E. All types of designed natural gas infrastructure project work not listed in §D of this regulation are designated as noncovered projects and require documented approval by a relevant qualified person.

F. During emergencies, a relevant qualified person may approve a covered project, in which case documented licensed professional engineer approval shall be required as soon as practical after the emergency has been resolved.

G. The Division may grant a waiver to the regulations in this chapter to a gas company for good cause.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/20.55.10.04>
- Source ID: `maryland-comar`
- SHA-256: `49dc8128bcb63499ad3eb9da4314c232a00e7d133c16e9b23f4cb726eccc51ca`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T08:47:37.108Z
- Exported: 2026-08-24T11:51:26.994Z
- Document slug: `md-comar-20-55-10-04`

### 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": "49 CFR Part 192",
      "referenceType": "federal-regulation",
      "url": "https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/part-192"
    }
  ],
  "region": "MD"
}
```