# Chapter 421, § 7: Federal Regulation Waivers **Citation:** 65-407 C.M.R. ch. 421, § 7 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** Maine Public Utilities Commission **Effective:** 2012-06-14 **Published:** 2012-06-14 Upon the request of any person subject to this Chapter or upon its own motion, the Commission may, for good cause, waive any requirement of this Chapter that is not required by federal regulation or state or federal statute. The Commission or the Presiding Officer may grant the waiver. ## Document text Upon the request of any person subject to this Chapter or upon its own motion, the Commission may, for good cause, waive any requirement of this Chapter that is not required by federal regulation or state or federal statute. The Commission or the Presiding Officer may grant the waiver. A. Upon application by an operator, the Commission may grant a waiver from compliance with the federal Gas Pipeline Safety Regulations for intrastate pipeline transportation, subject to review by the office of Pipeline Safety Regulation. 1. Waivers may be granted for particular circumstances where it is inappropriate for an operator to follow a regulation of general applicability. a. Before granting a waiver, the Commission must give notice and opportunity for written comments and hearing, unless the Commission finds that notice is impracticable, unnecessary, or not in the public interest. b. If the Commission finds a requested waiver is consistent with gas pipeline safety and is otherwise justified, the waiver must be issued under appropriate terms and conditions with a statement of reasons for granting the waiver. c. If the Commission finds a requested waiver is inconsistent with gas pipeline safety or is otherwise unjustified, the request must be denied, and the applicant notified of the reasons for denial. d. The Commission must give the office of Pipeline Safety Regulation of the United States Department of Transportation written notice of each waiver at least 60 days before it becomes effective. Each notice of waiver must provide the following information: i. The name, address, and telephone number of the applicant; ii. The safety standards involved; iii. A description of the pipeline facilities involved; iv. The justification for the waiver, including the reasons why the standards are not appropriate and why the waiver is consistent with gas pipeline safety. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `me-puc-pipeline-safety` - SHA-256: `61626934cac39159f2312e7396e1e93755f1a633a7c1cc68e72e51635a64faa0` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T10:06:50.037Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T04:33:27.844Z - Document slug: `me-cmr-65-407-421-7` ### Source metadata ```json { "jurisdiction": "US-ME", "code": "65-407 C.M.R.", "chapter": "421", "section": "7", "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" } ```