# Distribution system valve requirements and emergency response drills **Citation:** N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.9 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** New Jersey Board of Public Utilities **Effective:** 2023-06-05 **Published:** 2023-06-05 N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.9 governs the spacing of sectionalizing distribution valves. The proposed amendments would amend the section to also govern "emergency response drills." These drills are necessary to test and validate existing plans and procedures in a realistic setting. The conduct of emergency response drills for dist ## Document text N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.9 governs the spacing of sectionalizing distribution valves. The proposed amendments would amend the section to also govern "emergency response drills." These drills are necessary to test and validate existing plans and procedures in a realistic setting. The conduct of emergency response drills for distribution system incidents provides an opportunity to train operator and local emergency response personnel for real-world incidents and can improve community resilience and reduce loss of life and property damage. Many operators already conduct distribution emergency response drills, and the proposed amendments would standardize the frequency of these drills and require an operator to conduct a drill during normal business hours at least once every four years. This provides an opportunity for Board staff to observe these drills during normal business hours. Adopted amendment text: 14:7-1.9 Distribution system valve requirements and emergency response drills (a)-(e) (No change.) (f) Effective July 1, 2023, an operator shall perform a distribution system emergency response drill simulating a reportable incident, as set forth at N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.17, in each operator district or division at least once every two years. Each call center and dispatch operation center shall participate in at least one emergency response drill every two years. An operator shall not conduct a district or division emergency response drill within two weeks of another district or division emergency response drill. Each operator shall conduct a site-specific emergency response drill at a training center facility or field site within two years of July 1, 2023. At least once every four years thereafter, each operator shall conduct a site- specific emergency response drill at a field site between Monday and Friday during normal business hours. After the first site-specific emergency response drill, an operator may conduct a tabletop emergency response drill to meet this requirement for no more than one out of two consecutive emergency response drills for each district or division. (g) An operator shall notify Board staff at least five business days prior to performing any emergency response drill pursuant to (f) above. Notwithstanding this requirement, an operator may schedule an emergency response drill on a rainy day (or similar weather event), upon notice to Board staff as soon as possible prior to the drill, but no later than two hours before the drill is to occur. Each operator shall submit a final audit report of each emergency response drill to Board staff within two months after the emergency response drill. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `nj-bpu-njac-14-7` - SHA-256: `63cd1ea91943e6824abb384d712c17ac4a7abe8edc920d71faf90b051c5c47dc` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T11:51:55.415Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T02:46:32.479Z - Document slug: `nj-njac-14-7-1-9` ### Source metadata ```json { "jurisdiction": "US-NJ", "chapter": "14:7", "subchapter": 1, "readoptedOn": "2023-05-03", "amendedOn": "2023-06-05", "expiresOn": "2030-05-03", "registerCitation": "55 N.J.R. 1201(a)", "adoption": "R.2023 d.071", "docket": "GX22020048", "textCompleteness": "official-section-summary-plus-final-adopted-amendment-text", "isFullOfficialCodeText": false, "exactScope": "This corpus contains the exact 33-section current inventory described section by section in PRN 2022-136 and readopted in R.2023 d.071: N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.1, 1.1A, 1.2-1.4, 1.6-1.26, and 2.1-2.7. Section 1.5 and sections 1.27 through 1.37 are reserved and emit no documents. N.J.A.C. 14:6 gas-service rules, statutes, orders, permits, forms, and One-Call requirements are adjacent and excluded except as references.", "applicabilityCaveat": "Chapter 14:7 governs New Jersey intrastate transmission and distribution pipelines transporting natural gas, subject to operator, facility, gas, waiver, and federal-jurisdiction limits. BPU describes its safety oversight as covering intrastate natural-gas infrastructure and states that PHMSA retains overall responsibility for hazardous-liquid and interstate gas pipelines under its jurisdiction. Inclusion is not a claim of New Jersey hazardous-liquid certification.", "incorporationCaveat": "N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.1A defines the Federal Code as 49 CFR Parts 190, 191, 192, 193, 198, and 199 and incorporates federal definitions by reference. The official rulemaking describes the current edition and amendments as issued, indicating prospective incorporation, but this connector does not reproduce federal text or decide whether every later federal change is legally incorporated for every date and facility. Verify the controlling Code edition and legal effect.", "publicationCaveat": "The New Jersey Register adoption is the official publication evidence: filed May 3, 2023; amendments and new rule effective June 5, 2023; expiration May 3, 2030. OAL states that the free semi-monthly online Administrative Code is not the official Code. The BPU live rules page confirms 55 N.J.R. 1201(a) and the 2030 expiration but appears to label the readoption date as May 3, 2024; the connector preserves the Register's internally consistent May 3, 2023 filed/readoption date and flags the discrepancy. Documents contain official section summaries plus final adopted amendment text where available, not a complete official Code reproduction.", "rights": "Official BPU, OAL, New Jersey Register, and PHMSA materials are archived with attribution and SHA-256 provenance. Public access does not resolve rights in seals, marks, site presentation, LexisNexis renderings, annotations, forms, or incorporated private standards. The connector excludes the blocked LexisNexis Code rendering and requires separate downstream rights review.", "rightsReviewRequired": true, "references": [ { "citation": "N.J.A.C. 14:7-1.17", "referenceType": "new-jersey-administrative-code", "url": "https://www.nj.gov/oal/rules/accessp/" } ], "region": "NJ" } ```