{"operation":"document","citation":"PHMSA Guidance, PHMSA Notice of Enforcement Discretion for Certain Gas Transmission Pipeline Requirements","title":"PHMSA Notice of Enforcement Discretion for Certain Gas Transmission Pipeline Requirements","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2020-04-22","effective_on":"2020-04-22","summary":"PHMSA Notice of Enforcement Discretion for Certain Gas Transmission Pipeline Requirements Document Stay of Enforcement II Gas Transmission Rule.pdf (207.26 KB) PHMSA does not intend to take enforcement action relative to the July 1, 2020 compliance deadline requirements related to the Part 192 provisions in the Final Rule1 if a regulated entity fails to meet such a requirement by December 31, 2020, for reasons attrib","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-phmsa-notice-enforcement-discretion-certain-gas-transmission-pipeline-requirements-404438d6.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-phmsa-notice-enforcement-discretion-certain-gas-transmission-pipeline-requirements-404438d6.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-phmsa-notice-enforcement-discretion-certain-gas-transmission-pipeline-requirements-404438d6","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/news/phmsa-notice-enforcement-discretion-certain-gas-transmission-pipeline-requirements","body":"PHMSA Notice of Enforcement Discretion for Certain Gas Transmission Pipeline Requirements\n\nDocument\n\n Stay of Enforcement II Gas Transmission Rule.pdf (207.26 KB)\n\n        PHMSA does not intend to take enforcement action relative to the July 1, 2020 compliance deadline requirements related to the Part 192 provisions in the Final Rule1 if a regulated entity fails to meet such a requirement by December 31, 2020, for reasons attributable to the National Emergency.\n\n          Issued Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2020\n\n<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nGAS TRANSMISSION RULE ISSUED ON OCTOBER 1, 2019:\nNOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION TO GAS PIPELINE OPERATORS\nAFFECTED BY THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY RELATING TO THE\nCORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) OUTBREAK\nRE: Notice of Enforcement Discretion to Gas Pipeline Operators Affected by the\nCoronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak\nIn light of the President’s March 13, 2020 Proclamation of a National Emergency Concerning\nthe Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak (National Emergency), the U.S.\nDepartment of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n(PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety, recognizes that gas pipeline operators may be facing\npersonnel resource constraints due to COVID-19. These constraints may impact an operator’s\nability to achieve timely compliance with certain near-term requirements of the new gas pipeline\nsafety regulations issued on October 1, 2019, entitled Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas\nTransmission Pipelines: MAOP Reconfirmation, Expansion of Assessment Requirements, and\nOther Related Amendments (84 FR 52180) (Final Rule). As a result of these personnel resource\nconstraints and the need of operators to focus available resources on maintaining normal\noperations and protecting the health and safety of their personnel and the public, PHMSA is\nexercising its discretion to enforce the Final Rule in a manner that provides flexibility in meeting\nthe initial compliance deadlines for developing the new processes and procedures called for in\nthe Final Rule. This limited exercise of enforcement discretion does not apply to any other\nprovisions of the Final Rule.\nThis Notice therefore advises regulated entities that PHMSA does not intend to take enforcement\naction relative to the July 1, 2020 compliance deadline requirements related to the Part 192\nprovisions in the Final Rule1 if a regulated entity fails to meet such a requirement by December\n31, 2020, for reasons attributable to the National Emergency. This enforcement discretion will\nallow operators additional time to fully incorporate the new procedures required pursuant to the\nFinal Rule through a management of change process that may be slowed by the challenges of\ncompeting resource demands caused by the National Emergency. After December 31, 2020,\nPHMSA will resume its normal enforcement processes and sanctions available under 49 CFR\nPart 190, Subpart B. Notwithstanding this Notice, PHMSA expects affected operators to\n1 These new Part 192 requirements include, but are not limited to, the following:\n• Operators must prepare and follow procedures (per §§ 192.13(c) and 192.605) addressing applicable\nregulations without timeframes explicitly defined in the Final Rule (§§ 192.3, 192.5, 192.7, 192.9, 192.18,\n192.67, 192.127, 192.150, 192.205, 192.493, 192.506, 192.517, 192.607 (if material verification is being\nused per § 192.712), 192.619, 192.710, 192.712, 192.805, 192.909, 192.917, 192.921, 192.933, 192.935,\n192.937, 192.939, and Appendix F to Part 192.\n• Operators must begin to identify, schedule (according to a risk-based prioritization), and perform\ntransmission line assessments of “piggable” Medium Consequence Areas operating over 30% SMYS as\nrequired by § 192.710.\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\ncontinue to work toward meeting the July 1, 2020, effective date to the fullest extent practicable\nunder the current circumstances caused by the National Emergency.\nPlease note that this Notice applies only to the July 1, 2020 compliance deadlines related to the\nnew Part 192 requirements in the Final Rule. It does not apply to Part 191 reporting\nrequirements or subsequent compliance deadlines set forth in the Final Rule for developing\nadditional procedures or implementing other requirements. Pipeline operators subject to this\nNotice remain responsible for the safe operation of their systems, and nothing in this Notice\nrelieves operators from compliance with any applicable provisions of the Federal pipeline safety\nregulations.\nNothing in this Notice prohibits PHMSA from rescinding this Notice and enforcing the July 1,\n2020 deadlines if it determines that a significant safety issue or other circumstance warrants\ndoing so, including finding there is no longer a need for an exercise of enforcement discretion.\nFurthermore, PHMSA will not object to waivers, special permits, stays of enforcement, or\nsimilar measures granted by State authorities to intrastate gas pipeline operators for\nnoncompliance with State regulations equivalent to the new Part 192 requirements listed above\nthat are issued as a result of the National Emergency.\nThis document is a temporary notice of enforcement discretion. Regulated entities may rely on\nthis notice as a safeguard from departmental enforcement as described herein. To the extent this\nnotice includes guidance on how regulated entities may comply with existing regulations, it does\nnot have the force and effect of law and is not meant to bind the regulated entities in any way.\nISSUED THIS 22nd DAY OF April, 2020, IN WASHINGTON, D.C.\n_____________________________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator for Pipeline Safety\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":5643}