{"operation":"document","citation":"PI-16-0011","title":"Counsel to North Dakota LNG, LLC — Pipeline Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2017-12-08","effective_on":null,"summary":"PI-16-0011 response to Counsel to North Dakota LNG, LLC concerning 193.2001.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-16-0011.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-16-0011.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-16-0011","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/pipeline/interpretations/56596/north-dakota-lng-pi-16-0011-10-23-2017-part1932001.pdf","body":"<<>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\nOCT 2 3 2017\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nMr. Greg H. Williams\nCounsel to North Dakota LNG, LLC\nTemcoLegal, LLC\n10440 Little Patuxent Parkway\nSuite 300\nColumbia, MD 21044\nDear Mr. Williams:\nIn a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), dated\nAugust 12, 2016, you requested an interpretation of 49 CFR Part 193. Specifically, you\nrequested an interpretation regarding the applicability of§ 193.2001 to the North Dakota LNG\nLLC's (ND LNG) liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility located in Tioga, North Dakota.\nIn the letter; you stated:\nThe LNG facility in question is an LNG liquefaction plant, consisting of 3 production\ntrains - two smaller N2 expander plant trains, and one larger mixed-refrigerant\nliquefaction train. The liquefaction trains share common LNG storage and truck loadout.\nAcross the street from the ND LNG Facility is a Hess gas processing plant, which is the\nsource of the natural gas feedstock for the ND LNG Facility. An underground pipeline\nruns from the Hess gas processing plant to the ND LNG Facility. The pipeline is owned\nby the Hess processing plant up to the meter located on the ND LNG property. LNG is\nunloaded from two 60,000 gallon storage tanks on the ND LNG property into transport\ntrailers for truck transportation. The majority of the LNG is consumed on relatively\nnearby drill sites (within 200 miles of the LNG Facility).\nND LNG, owner of the ND LNG Facility, purchased the two smaller N2 expander trains\nfrom a prior owner/operator and moved them to the current location. ND LNG hired a\nthird party1 to: prepare the current site, assemble the two expander trains that were\nrelocated to the current site in addition to assembling the new mixed-refrigerant train.\nAdditionally, on September 30, 2016, you provided the' following additional information via\nemail:\n(1) Hess receives the gas from wells in the Williston B~sin and refines the gas at its\nprocessing plant. ·\n1 The third party was the prior operator of the LNG facility until June 30, 2016. ND LNG assumed operations of\nthe plant on July 1, 2016.\nThe Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety provid>>\n\n2\n(2) The underground pipeline is about 2000 feet long in total length and Hess owns\nnearly all of it.\n(3) The portion of the underground pipeline Hess owns runs under a public roadway.\n(4) Fifteen percent of the LNG produced is picked up at the plant and shipped out of\nstate (via truck), most of the time fuel for plant outages in other states or temporary\nprojects. During the summer the plant ships a few loads a week to asphalt plants in\nMinnesota. Also, the facility has shipped LNG to coal mines in Colorado, pipeline\noutage projects in Canada, and has shipped about 20 loads over the past year to a BNSF\nrail yard for a pilot project to power trains with LNG\n(5) A layout of the LNG facility and the processing plant map is provided.\nTo such an extent that ND LNG has been able to determine, the prior operator had not explored\nwhether DOT regulation apply to the LNG facility. Moreover, ND LNG has not been able to\ndetermine whether PHMSA regulations apply to the Hess processing plant. Therefore, based on\nthe aforementioned information, ND LNG requests an interpretation of § 193.2001.\nThe LNG facility is regulated under 49 CFR Part 193 ifthe LNG facility either receives from or\ndelivers to a 49 CFR Part 192 pipeline except when it meets the requirements in 193.2001(b).\nTypically, the processing and liquefaction plants are collocated and operated by one operator. In\nthe case of the ND LNG facility, the processing plant is located on property owned by Hess and\nthe liquefaction plant is owned by ND LNG.\nThe Hess processing plant is not regulated under Part 192 or Part 193, but the pipeline that\ntransports the treated gas from the processing plant to the LNG plant is regulated under Part 192.\nThe ND LNG facility is regulated under 49 CFR Part 193 because it receives natural gas from a\nPart 192 regulated pipeline and converts that gas into LNG for sale and delivery to customers\noutside of the LNG facility. Therefore, the LNG facility is used in the transportation of gas by\npipeline for purposes of§ 193.2001(a).\nIfwe can be of further assistance, please contact Tewabe Asebe at 202-366-5523.\nSincerely,\nThe Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety provides written clarifications of the Regulations\n(49 CFR Parts 190-199) in the form of interpretation letters. These letters reflect the agency's current application of the regulations to the\nspecific facts presented by the person requesting the clarification. Interpretations do not create legally-enforceable rights or obligations and\nare provided to help the public understand how to comply with the regulations.\n\n<<>>\n\nTEMCOLEGAL I f.'I ,1\\'11 f \",\\I' ·\n( '·'I ( \\ .. ' I' ;,·, ( II ,.\\ ( I 1·:\nMr. John Gale\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEast Building, 2nd Floor\n1200 New Jersey Ave. SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nAUG 17 2016\nAugust 12, 2016\nDear Mr. Gale,\nNorth Dakota LNG, LLC (ND LNG) requests a formal written letter of interpretation pursuant to\n49 C.F.R. Part 190.ll(b) concerning the applicability of the Department of Transportation's\n(\"DOT\") regulations at 49 C.F.R. Part 193 to ND LNG's liquefied natural gas (\"LNG\")\nmanufacturing and storage terminal. We request expedited treatment of this request given that\nthis is an existing facility.\nThe LNG Facility-\nND LNG owns and operates an LNG facility located in Tioga, North Dakota. The LNG Facility in\nquestion is an LNG liquefaction plant, consisting of 3 production trains-two smaller N2\nexpander plant trains, and one larger mixed-refrigerant liquefaction train. The liquefaction\ntrains share common LNG storage and truck loadout.\nAcross the street from the ND LNG Facility is a Hess gas processing plant, which is the source of\nthe natural gas feedstock for the ND LNG Facility. An underground pipeline runs from the Hess\ngas processing plant to the ND LNG Facility. The pipeline is owned by the Hess processing plant\nup to the meter located on the ND LNG property.\nLNG is unloaded from two 60,000 gallon storage tanks on the ND LNG property into transport\ntrailers for truck transportation. The majority of the LNG is consumed on relatively nearby drill\nsites (within 200 miles of the ND LNG Facility).\nThe DOT regulations-\nSection 193 of DOT's regulations provides in relevant part:\n§193.2001 Scope of part.\n1\n\n<<>>\n\nr\nTEMCOLEGAL \\ olll ,',II\nI I . . I \" I l •\n(a) This part prescribes safety standards for LNG facilities used in the transportation of gas\nby pipeline that is subject to the pipeline safety laws (49 U.S.C. 60101 et seq.) and Part 192 of\nthis chapter.\nAccording to a DOT website document entitled \"49 CFR Part 193 LNG Facility Jurisdiction\n6/17/15\" :\n\"Many LNG facilities are subject to the regulatory and enforcement authority of DOT through\nPHMSA. A simple but not complete test to determine if an LNG facility is regulated under 49\nCFR Part 193 is to identify both the source and the consumer of the LNG. The facility is\nregulated under 49 CFR Part 193 if the LNG facility either receives from or delivers to a 49 CFR\nPart 192 pipeline.\"\nDefinition of \"pipeline\" under 49 CFR 192:\nPipeline means all parts of those physical facilities through which gas moves in transportation,\nincluding pipe, valves, and other appurtenance attached to pipe, compressor units, metering\nstations, regulator stations, delivery stations, holders, and fabricated assemblies.\nThe request--\nND LNG, the owner of the ND LNG Facility, purchased the two smaller N2 expander trains from\na prior owner/operator and moved them to the current location. ND LNG hired a third party to\nprepare the current site, assemble the two expander trains that were relocated to the current\nsite in addition to assembling the new mixed-refrigerant train. The third party was also the\noperator of the plant until June 30, 2016. ND LNG assumed operations of the plant on July 1,\n2016. Insofar as ND LNG has been able to determine, the prior operator had not explored\nwhether DOT jurisdiction applied to the LNG Facility. Neither has ND LNG been able to\ndetermine whether PHMSA jurisdiction applies to the Hess processing plant. Based on the\nforegoing, it is not clear whether PHMSA jurisdiction applies to the ND LNG Facility.\nAccordingly, ND LNG respectfully makes the instant request for interpretation.\nRespectfully submitted,\n~ \\»,l ~~ -\nGreg ~ms\nCounsel to North Dakota LNG, LLC\n2\n11 • 1• r 1 I I < ; I I 1i ~ I I I I I . \\ I ~ I ' . I I 11• . . 1 t , I ~ ' , 11 1-.1 11 r .11 1 • ;. ; c J1 , .1 1 , • , , , • 1 11 1 , . • 1d·-. I,'> I\n\n<<>>\n\nCOOLER 1\nMR 2nd STAGE\nDISCHARGE COOLER\n10'-2.5\"\n16'-7.8\"\nCOOLER 3\nMR LUBE OIL COOLER\n24'-0.0\"\nCOOLER 2\nMR 3rd STAGE\nDISCHARGE COOLER\n11'-2.4\"\n10'-0.0\"\n11'-2.4\"\n10'-0\"\n30'-6\"\n8'\n6'-0\"\n10'\n8'\n20'\nMAKE UP SKID\n20'\nMR COMPRESSOR\nCOLD BOX\n12'\n8'\n7'-0\"\n10'\n14'\n6'\n96'\n15'\n10'\nINLET GAS T.I. POINT\n15'\n15'\n10'-0\"\n30'\nDEHYDRATION SKID\n15'\nMCC\n20'\nPOWER T.I. POINT\nLNG PRODUCT / VENT GAS T.I. POINT\nTRUCK LOADING SKID\nTRUCK SCALE\nPROCESS BUILDING\n8'\n12'-6\"\n8'\n20'\n60'\n8'\nCONTROL BUILDING\nACCESS TO\n68TH STREET NW","truncated":false,"body_characters":9815}