Pressure Testing Older Hazardous Liquid and Carbon Dioxide Pipelines

Passage 1[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 1998)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 15321-15322] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-7813] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Research and Special Programs Administration [Docket No. PS-121; Notice-4] [RIN 2137-AD 05] Pressure Testing Older Hazardous Liquid and Carbon Dioxide Pipelines AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT. ACTION: Clarification of confirmation of direct final rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: A member of the Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (THLPSSC) has expressed concern that the compliance dates for pressure testing are being extended and that the notice confirming the direct final rule on extension did not accurately reflect actions of the committee reviewing the rule. This member requests clarification and the opportunity for public comment on the extension of the compliance deadlines. This document clarifies the actions of the THLPSSC and notes that compliance deadlines may be addressed within a related rulemaking on the risk-based alternative to pressure testing. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Israni, (202) 366-4571, e-mail: [email protected], regarding the subject matter of this document, or the Dockets Unit (202) 366-4046, for copies of this document or other information in the docket.#

Passage 2SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A final rule issued in 1994 requires certain older hazardous liquid and carbon dioxide pipelines to be pressure tested. Compliance dates for pressure testing have been extended to allow development of a rule to provide an alternative to pressure testing based on an evaluation of the risks the lines pose to safety and the environment. On October 21, 1997, RSPA published a direct final rule [62 FR 54591] to extend for a second time compliance dates for the pressure testing. The THLPSSC, the federal advisory committee established by statute to review pipeline safety standards, reviewed the direct final rule at a November 18, 1997 meeting in Houston, Texas. At the meeting, two members expressed concerns over delays in the rulemaking to establish a risk-based alternative to pressure testing. These two members voted not to approve the rule. The majority of the THLPSSC members approved the direct final rule as ``technically feasible, reasonable, and practicable.'' Following the committee meeting, the THLPSSC sent a resolution to RSPA's Administrator urging for prompt adoption of a rule providing for a risk-based alternative to pressure testing. A notice of proposed rulemaking to provide a risk-based alternative was published in the Federal Register on February 5, 1998 [63 FR 5918] There were no subsequent comments objecting to the direct final rule, and believing that the issues raised in the THLPSSC meeting had been addressed by the publication of the risk-based alternative, RSPA confirmed the direct final rule on January 26, 1998 [63 FR 3653]. In a letter dated February 24, 1998, the member of the THLPSSC#

Passage 3representing the Environmental Defense Fund, who had cast one of the dissenting votes at the November meeting, expressed concern with the direct final rule extending the compliance dates for pressure testing and the process for its issuance. Extension of the compliance dates for pressure testing delays testing of older pipelines, whose integrity may be questionable and which may be prone to leaks and spills from outdated materials, design, and/or construction practices. The member points to previous extension of the compliance dates because of the development of the risk-based alternative and argues that further extension eliminates pressure on the Office of Pipeline Safety to complete the risk-based alternative rulemaking promptly. This member also contends that written comments objecting to the extension were not submitted because RSPA indicated during the THLPSSC meeting that the negative votes of the committee members would be considered adverse comments.1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ The direct final rule process is designed to allow for immediate issuance of rules for which comment is not deemed necessary because of the lack of controversy. Thus the receipt of adverse comments requires the agency to republish the rule either as a proposal or as a revised direct final rule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------#

Passage 4The THLPSSC member encourages clarification of the advisory committee actions (which is done above) and republication of the extension of compliance dates for pressure testing for comment. RSPA does not believe that extension of compliance dates is inconsistent with prompt action on the risk-based alternative. RSPA believes that, without an extension of compliance dates, an operator may be required unnecessarily to plan for pressure testing lines which would likely qualify for alternative testing. The compliance dates for pressure testing established by the direct final rule are the same as those proposed for pipelines which will be required, under the risk-based alternative, to be pressure tested. Continuation of this consonance assures that pressure testing of higher risk lines will not be delayed by an operator's election of the risk-based alternative. Given these identical dates for completing pressure testing, comments by THLPSSC members or others on the issues of timing of pressure testing may be submitted on the current proposed rule on the risk-based alternative. That comment period is open until April 6, 1998, and RSPA encourages anyone concerned with the timing of the pressure testing to comment on that proposal. Issued in Washington, DC on March 20, 1998. Richard B. Felder, Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety. [FR Doc. 98-7813 Filed 3-30-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-60-P#