# Chapter 421, § 4: Jurisdictional System Installation and Maintenance Standards **Citation:** 65-407 C.M.R. ch. 421, § 4 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** Maine Public Utilities Commission **Effective:** 2012-06-14 **Published:** 2012-06-14 A. Installation and Maintenance of Meters and Pressure Regulators ## Document text A. Installation and Maintenance of Meters and Pressure Regulators 1. Protection of Meters, Tanks and Distribution System Facilities from Damage from Motorized Vehicles or Equipment Gas meters, aboveground tanks, domes of underground tanks, and distribution system facilities located adjacent to a roadway, street, alley, driveway, easement or otherwise susceptible to damage from motor vehicles shall be provided protective barriers on each side exposed to vehicular traffic. 2. Accessibility and Location of Pressure Regulators at Meters or Service Piping Pressure regulators installed at meters or on service piping locations shall conform to the following requirements: a. Regulators shall be installed: i. With the screened vent pointed down, or under a protective cover that will prevent blockage of the vent by rain, snow, ice or debris; ii. At least 5 feet away from mechanical ventilation air intakes, openings into direct-vent (sealed combustion system) appliances, or any source of ignition, such as but not limited to electrical meters. b. Regulators shall not be direct buried. 3. Hazardous Equipment Procedure By July 1, 2012, LPG suppliers shall implement modified operation and maintenance procedures that include a “Red Tag” or hazardous equipment procedure for suspending service to a customer’s system when a hazardous condition is noticed that makes continued delivery of LPG unsafe. B. Installation and Maintenance of Mains and Service Lines 1. Installation of Plastic Pipe, Warning Tape, and Tracer Wire a. Plastic pipe that is not encased in metallic piping must have an electrically conductive tracer wire or other approved means of locating the pipe. To facilitate location of buried plastic pipe, where plastic pipe is installed or replaced the following location methods shall be used. i. A tracer wire shall be installed adjacent to the piping. Tracer wire may not be wrapped around the pipe and must not contact the pipe. Tracer wire or other metallic elements installed for pipe locating purposes must be resistant to corrosion damage, either by use of coated copper wire or by other means. ii. Continuous gas pipeline warning tape shall be placed above piping installed by open trenching, and separated from the piping by a minimum of 6 inches. C. Directional Boring Operations Each LPG operator shall: 1. Develop written procedures for conducting directional boring activities for the installation of gas pipeline facilities prior to engaging in directional boring; 2. Train its operating personnel including locators in the specific requirements and hazards associated with directional bores. D. Marking of Containers 1. All LPG operator-owned containers, aboveground or underground, installed at consumer locations shall be marked in a legible manner with the name and telephone number of the owner by decal, tag, stencil, or similar marking. 2. Containers gained through acquisition shall be marked as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after acquisition. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `me-puc-pipeline-safety` - SHA-256: `61626934cac39159f2312e7396e1e93755f1a633a7c1cc68e72e51635a64faa0` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T10:06:50.037Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T05:53:15.257Z - Document slug: `me-cmr-65-407-421-4` ### Source metadata ```json { "jurisdiction": "US-ME", "code": "65-407 C.M.R.", "chapter": "421", "section": "4", "corpusScope": "complete-current-chapters-420-and-421", "publicationObservedOn": "2026-08-20", "exactScope": "This bounded corpus contains the complete current operative text of all 10 top-level sections of 65-407 C.M.R. Chapter 420 and all 7 top-level sections of Chapter 421. Chapter 420 governs intrastate natural-gas and LNG pipeline operators; Chapter 421 separately governs jurisdictional LPG distribution systems within 49 C.F.R. Part 192.", "excludedScope": "Chapter 895 damage prevention, Chapters 130 and 140 reporting and mapping, gas accounting, rates, metering, customer protection, siting, environmental permits, statutes, dockets, orders, forms, federal text, interstate pipelines, hazardous-liquid pipelines, and private standards are not standalone searchable documents in this rules connector. Their exclusion does not imply legal irrelevance.", "applicabilityCaveat": "Maine's certified program covers intrastate gas pipeline operators, including covered natural-gas, LNG, and jurisdictional LPG facilities. Chapter 420 expressly excludes interstate natural-gas facilities and transportation. PHMSA retains gas interstate and gas/hazardous-liquid responsibilities not assumed by Maine; neither the MPUC program page nor PHMSA fact sheet establishes Maine hazardous-liquid certification.", "incorporationCaveat": "Chapter 420 dynamically incorporates amendments to 49 C.F.R. Parts 40, 190, 191, 192, 193, 198, and 199. Chapter 421 dynamically incorporates Parts 191 and 192 but fixes its NFPA 58 baseline to the 2004 edition with stated exceptions. This connector records those links without reproducing federal or private standards or deciding the legal effect of prospective incorporation.", "publicationCaveat": "The Maine Secretary of State warns that online rule copies are not certified copies for adjudicatory or evidentiary use. Chapter 420's controlling online copy is filing 2026-135, effective June 30, 2026; older MPUC gas pages that still identify the 2021 version are stale. Chapter 421's history says filing 2012-156 was filed May 15, 2010, an apparent source typo preserved rather than silently corrected. The PHMSA state page is corroborative program-scope evidence, not controlling Maine rule text.", "rightsCaveat": "Maine and federal government source artifacts are archived with attribution and SHA-256 provenance. Public availability does not settle rights in site presentation, seals, agency marks, forms, incorporated federal material, or private standards such as NFPA 58; downstream redistribution requires separate review.", "federalIncorporation": "dynamic-with-fixed-NFPA-58-2004-baseline", "references": [], "region": "ME" } ```