Railroad Commission of Texas — Pipeline Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department ofTransportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington DC 20590 JUl 12 2018 Ms. Stephanie Weidman PHMSA Program Director Railroad Commission of Texas 1701 North Congress Avenue P.O. BOX 12967 Austin, Texas 78711 -2967 Dear Ms. Weidman: In a September 14, 2016, letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), you requested an interpretation of 49 CFR Part 192. You specifically requested an interpretation of§ 192.3 for a definition of a transmission pipeline. You stated that "[ o ]ver the past few years, the Commission's (RRC) Pipeline Safety program has cited alleged violations of the State safety regulations pertaining to pipeline permitting (T-4) requirements for intrastate transmission and gathering pipelines." You stated that "[c]ertain pipeline operators have revised and transferred previously operated and regulated natural gas transmission pipeline systems that operate at a hoop stress below 20% of SMYS, to a natural gas distribution pipeline designation or purpose." You stated that "[o]ne particular operator based on their [sic] opinion has changed over 600 miles of pipelines from a status of transmission to distribution pipeline." You provided two examples of pipeline systems the RRC considers "to be transmission from historical and current operating conditions." In addition, in a November 15, 2016, email you provided PHMSA summary of pipelines that the operators arbitrarily converted from transmission to distribution pipelines. Section 192.3 defines a transmission line as: Transmission line means a pipeline, other than a gathering line, that: (1) Transports gas from a gathering line or storage facility to a distribution center, storage facility, or large volume customer that is not down-stream from a distribution center; (2) operates at a hoop stress of 20 percent or more of SMYS; or (3) transports gas within a storage field. NOTE: A large volume customer may receive similar volumes of gas as a distribution center, and includes factories, power plants, and institutional users of gas. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety provides written clarifications of the Regulations (49 CFR · Parts 190-199) in the form of interpretation letters. These letters reflect the agency's current application of the regulations to the specific facts presented by the person requesting the clarification. Interpretations do not create legally-enforceable rights or obligations and are provided to help the public understand how to comply with the regulations.#

Page 22 A pipeline that meets any of the three conditions listed under the definition in§ 192.3 is a transmission line in accordance with 49 CFR Part 192. Therefore, a pipeline that operates at a hoop stress of less than 20 percent of its specified minimum yield strength, but meets either condition one or three, meets the definition of a transmission line. PHMSA agrees, per§ 192.3, with RRC's interpretation that any pipeline system other than a gathering line that transports gas from a gathering line or storage facility to a distribution center meets the definition of a transmission pipeline regardless of whether it operates at a hoop stress below 20 percent of SMYS. Ifwe can be of further assistance, please contact Tewabe Asebe at 202-366-5523. Sincerely, Jo Director, Office of Standards and Rulemaking The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety provides written clarifications of the Regulations (49 CFR Parts 190-199) in the form of interpretation letters. These letters reflect the agency's current application of the regulations to the specific facts presented by the person requesting the clarification. Interpretations do not create legally-enforceable rights or obligations and are provided to help the public understand how to comply with the regulations.#

Page 3DA YID PORTER. C HAIRMAN C HRISTI C RADDICK. COMM ISS IO ER RYAN SITION. COMMISSIONER K ARI FRENCH D IV ISION DIRECTOR RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS OVERSIGHT AND SAFETY DIVISION PIPELINE SAFETY Septe mber 14, 20 16 John Gale, Director Office of Pipe line Safety (PHP-30) PH MS A, U.S. Departme nt of Transportation 1200 New Jersey A venue SE. Washington, DC 20590-0001 OC1 11 2016 Re: Functi onalized Distributio n Pipe lines Dear Mr. Gale: Over the past few years, the Commissio n's (RRC) Pipeline Safety program has cited alleged violations of the State safety regulations perta ining to pipeline permitting (T-4) require ments for intrastate trans mission and gatherin g pipelines. Certain pipeline operators have revised and transferred previous ly operated and regulated natural gas transmission pipeline systems that operate al a hoop stress be low 20% of SMYS, to a natural gas distribution pipeline designat ion or purpose. One particular operator based on their opinion has changed over 600 mi les of pipe lines from a status of transmission to distributio n. Included are two examples of pipeline systems the RRC understands to be transmi ss ion fro m historical and c urrent operating conditi ons. Per the configuration detail s on the attached maps, the operator considers the green lines labeled APT to be transmi ssion pipelines and the blue lines labe led MidTex to be di stribution pipelines. The red dots represent pressure regulator stati ons and the black dots represent gas measure ment stations. The gas for Line M primaril y fl ows north to south and deli vers gas to approximately 13 c ities. The gas for Line U generally fl ows south to north and provides service to about 15 municipalities. The RRC pers pecti ve is that the ent ire pipe line syste m for both Line U and Line M should continue to be designated operated, and maintained as Trans mission pipe lines. The RRC's traditional dete rmination from Federal and State safety regulations, is that any pipeline syste m that transports gas to a di stribution center (i.e. a city, town, or municipa lity) should be classified as a transmission pipeline per the definition of transmission line in 49 CFR 192.3, regard less of the operating hoop stress of the pipeline. Any guidance from PHMSA that can be provided to assist in resolving this situatio n would be much appreciated. Respectfully, ; ~- ~0~ ~ Ste p ~~idm a n PHMSA Progra m Director 170 1 NORTH CONGRESS AVENUE * POST OFFICE BOX 1 2967 * AUSTIN. T EXAS 787 11 -2967 * PHONE: 5 1 2/463-7058 *FAX: 512/463-73 1 9 TDD 8001735-2989 OR TOY 5 1 2/463-7284 * AN EQUAL OPPORTUN ITY EMPLOYER * HTIP://WWW.RRC.STATE.TX.US#