{"operation":"document","citation":"PHMSA Guidance, Notice of Enforcement for Pipeline Safety: Periodic Updates of Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments","title":"Notice of Enforcement for Pipeline Safety: Periodic Updates of Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2024-06-21","effective_on":"2024-06-21","summary":"Notice of Enforcement for Pipeline Safety: Periodic Updates of Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments Document Notice-of-Limited-Enforcement-Discretion-Standards-Update1.pdf (242.37 KB) Notice of Enforcement for Pipeline Safety: Periodic Updates of Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments PDF Issued Date: Friday, June 21, 2024","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-notice-of-enforcement-for-pipeline-safety-periodic-updates-of-regulatory-references-to-technical-standards-and-miscellaneous-amendments-070077c9.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-notice-of-enforcement-for-pipeline-safety-periodic-updates-of-regulatory-references-to-technical-standards-and-miscellaneous-amendments-070077c9.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-notice-of-enforcement-for-pipeline-safety-periodic-updates-of-regulatory-references-to-technical-standards-and-miscellaneous-amendments-070077c9","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulatory-compliance/phmsa-guidance/notice-of-enforcement-for-pipeline-safety-periodic-updates-of-regulatory-references-to-technical-standards-and-miscellaneous-amendments","body":"Notice of Enforcement for Pipeline Safety: Periodic Updates of Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments\n\nDocument\n\n Notice-of-Limited-Enforcement-Discretion-Standards-Update1.pdf (242.37 KB)\n\n        Notice of Enforcement for Pipeline Safety: Periodic Updates of Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments PDF\n\n          Issued Date: Friday, June 21, 2024\n\n<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\nJune 20, 2024\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nNOTICE OF LIMITED ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION\nREGARDING THE FINAL RULE TITLED “PIPELINE SAFETY: PERIODIC\nUPDATES OF REGULATORY REFERENCES TO TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND\nMISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS”\nOn April 29, 2024, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n(PHMSA) published in the Federal Register a final rule titled “Pipeline Safety: Periodic Updates\nof Regulatory References to Technical Standards and Miscellaneous Amendments” (“Final\nRule”).1 The Final Rule, with an effective date of June 28, 2024, amends the Federal Pipeline\nSafety Regulations to incorporate by reference all or parts of more than 20 new or updated\nvoluntary, consensus industry technical standards (updated industry standards) in 49 CFR parts\n192 and 195. The Final Rule also clarifies certain regulatory provisions and makes several\neditorial corrections.\nOn May 29, 2024, GPA Midstream Association and American Petroleum Institute (API)\n(“GPA/API”) filed a petition for reconsideration of the Final Rule; on the same day, the\nInterstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), the American Public Gas Association\n(APGA), the American Gas Association (AGA), the American Fuel and Petrochemical\nManufacturers (AFPM), the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association (LEPA), and the American\nPetroleum Institute (API) (collectively, the “Associations”) filed a separate petition for\nreconsideration of the Final Rule.2 Each of GPA/API and the Associations also filed parallel\nmotions to stay the effective date of the Final Rule.3\nGPA/API’s motion requested that PHMSA stay the compliance deadline or provide\noperators with the discretion to comply with the current or updated industry standards in 49\nC.F.R. §§ 192.7(b)(9), 195.3(b)(12), and 195.3(b)(20), which are the sections that incorporate by\nreference the standards mentioned in GPA/API’s petition for reconsideration (API Std 2350 and\nAPI 1104).4 GPA/API stated that its members are currently engaged in projects that require\n1 89 FR 33264 (Apr. 29, 2024) (Final Rule).\n2 GPA/API Petition for Reconsideration, Doc. No PHMSA-2016-0002-0016 (May 29, 2024) (“GPA/API Petition”);\nthe Associations’ Petition for Reconsideration, Doc. No PHMSA-2016-0002-0014 (May 29, 2024) (“Joint Trade\nPetition”).\n3 GPA/API Motion to Stay Final Rule, Doc. No PHMSA-2016-0002-0015 (May 29, 2024); Associations’ Motion to\nStay Final Rule, Doc. No PHMSA-2016-0002 (May 29, 2024). GPA/API Motion to Stay requests a stay of the\nFinal Rule to grant operators additional compliance time. GPA/API Motion to Stay at 3, 4. Similarly, the\nAssociations request a stay of the Final Rule or, in the alternative, a stay of enforcement. Associations’ Motion to\nStay at 4.\n4 GPA/API Motion to Stay at 1.\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\n2\ncompliance with the updated industry standards and will suffer irreparable harm if the\ncompliance date is not stayed or modified as the Final Rule’s compliance date does not allow for\nsufficient time to implement the new requirements.\n5 The Associations’ motion requested that\nPHMSA stay the Final Rule to allow for “sufficient time to transition programs to the revised\nstandards” to avoid causing significant disruption and costs.6 The Associations’ further asserted\nthat § 192.714(d) and section 7 of ASME B31.8S (2004) are in conflict7 and that its members are\nengaged in projects that require compliance with the newly incorporated standards and will\nsuffer irreparable harm if the effective date is not extended as compliance with the Final Rule\nwill require personnel training, new procedures, or the acquisition of new materials..\n8\nPHMSA has considered the two motions to stay and now issues a notice of limited\nenforcement (Notice) to facilitate timely operator compliance efforts in light of the summer/fall\n2024 construction season in much of the country. Specifically, this Notice advises regulated\nentities that PHMSA will exercise its discretion by allowing compliance with either the updated\nindustry standards incorporated by the Final Rule or the industry standards referenced in the\nregulations prior to the publication of the Final Rule. The period of this limited enforcement\ndiscretion will be from the date of issuance below until January 1, 2025, and applies to all of the\nupdated industry standards incorporated by the Final Rule, not just those referenced by\npetitioners.\n9 This will provide regulatory flexibility to pipeline operators while at the same time\nmaintaining an equivalent level of safety during the current construction season. In addition, this\nenforcement discretion will ensure operators have sufficient time to understand the new\nstandards, update procedures, train personnel, acquire new materials, develop and implement\nmanagement-of-change processes, avoid any disruptions to ongoing construction projects10 and\nplan future construction projects using the updated standards.\nThis Notice advises regulated entities that until January 1, 2025, PHMSA will exercise its\ndiscretion to refrain from taking enforcement action to provide operators with the ability to\ncomply with either the updated industry standards incorporated by the Final Rule, or the industry\nstandards referenced in the regulations prior to the publication of the Final Rule. PHMSA\nfurther recommends that its state partners exercise the same enforcement discretion described in\nthis Notice. To the extent this Notice includes guidance on how regulated entities may comply\nwith existing regulations, it does not have the force and effect of law and is not meant to bind the\nregulated entities in any way. Nothing herein prohibits PHMSA from rescinding this limited\nexercise of its enforcement discretion and pursuing an enforcement action if it determines that a\nsignificant safety issue warrants doing so. Nothing herein relieves operators from compliance\n5 GPA/API Motion to Stay at 4.\n6 Associations’ Motion to Stay at 4.\n7 The Final Rule’s preamble explicitly states that “[i]f a provision of an incorporated standard conflicts with a\nregulation, the regulation takes precedence unless the regulation expressly provides otherwise.” 89 FR 33264,\n33265.\n8 Associations’ Motion to Stay at 2.\n9 The Associations’ petition stated that a compliance date of January 1, 2025, would provide sufficient time to\nensure compliance with the industry standards updated by the Final Rule and is “prior to the beginning of the next\nconstruction cycle. Joint Trade Petition at 5, 9.\n10 PHMSA understands that, based on the Associations’ petition, this date allows for the current construction season\nto end and is before the commencement of the next construction season. See Joint Trade Petition at 9.\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\n3\nwith any other applicable provisions of Federal regulations or other law, and PHMSA reserves\nthe right to exercise all of its other authorities.\nIssued June 20, 2024, in Washington, D.C.\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","truncated":false,"body_characters":7534}