{"operation":"document","citation":"PI-91-038","title":"Ross Marsh Foster Myers & Quiggle — Pipeline Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"1991-12-26","effective_on":null,"summary":"PI-91-038 response to Ross Marsh Foster Myers & Quiggle concerning 192.1.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-91-038.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-91-038.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-91-038","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/Pipeline/1991/PI91038.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nMs. Nancy J. Skancke\nRoss Marsh Foster Myers & Quiggle\n888 Sixteenth Street N. W.\nWashington, DC 20006\nDear Ms. Skancke:\nThis responds to your letter of August 23, 1991, regarding the drug testing regulations under 49\nCFR Part 199. You asked whether personnel at two gas processing plants are subject to drug\ntesting under those regulations.\nAccording to your letter, two plants are in a rural area outside the areas described by 49 CFR\n192.1(b)(2). The plants receive gas from a gas gathering system and process the gas by removing\nnatural gas liquids (NGLs). The NGLs are pumped into a hazardous liquid pipeline that is subject\nto 49 CFR Part 195. The processed gas is then returned to the supplier, who transports it to an\ninterstate gas pipeline.\nYou also said that personnel in the plants affect the flow of gas and NGLs in the gas and\nhazardous liquid pipelines. They affect flow through their operation and control of the plant\nmetering stations.\nUnder Part 199, persons who are subject to drug testing are called \"employees.\" (See §199.11.)\nThe term \"employee\" is defined in §199.3 as a person who performs on a pipeline any operating,\nmaintenance, or emergency-response function that is regulated by 49 CFR Part 192, 193 or 195.\nPart 192 does not apply to the gathering of gas that occurs onshore outside the areas listed in\n§192.1(b)(2). Such gas gathering extends up to, and includes, gas processing plants. So persons\nare not subject to drug testing under Part 199 for work done on facilities used int he processing of\ngas inside a gas processing plant that lies onshore outside the areas listed in §192.1(b)(2). Your\nletter indicates that persons working in the two plants fall under this exception from Part 199.\nPart 195 does not apply to refining or manufacturing facilities or associated in-plant piping\n(§195.1(b)(6). this exclusion covers the facilities used in the collection of NGLs inside a gas\nprocessing plant. Thus, persons are not subject to drug testing under Part 199 for work done on\nfacilities used in the collection of NGLs inside a gas processing plant, regardless of the location of\nthe plant. Your letter indicates that persons working in the two plants fall under this exception\nfrom Part 199.\nDB\nC:\\WP51\\INTERPRT\\192\\1\\91-12-26\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nNote, however, that Parts 192 and 195 require the operators of the pipelines supplied by the gas\nprocessing plants to control pressure in the pipelines within prescribed limits (§§192.619 and\n195.406). So, for transfers of gas or NGL from a gas processing plant to a pipeline regulated by\nPart 192 or 195, in-plant piping ends and the regulated pipeline begins at the inlet of each pressure\ncontrol device on plant grounds that is necessary for the pipeline operator to control pressure in\nthe pipeline outside the plant grounds. Sometimes the operator has adequate alternative means to\ncontrol pressure in the pipeline outside the plant grounds. In these cases, we consider the in-plant\npiping to end and the regulated pipeline to begin at the boundary of the plant grounds, which\nusually is marked by a fence.\nThe operator of a regulated pipeline does not always own the devices located on the grounds of a\ngas processing plant (e.g., metering and pumping equipment) that are necessary to control\npipeline pressure outside the grounds. The operator, nonetheless, is responsible for compliance\nwith the Part 192 or 195 standards applicable to those devices. Compliance is required because\nthe operator is using or relying on the devices to operate its pipeline within the Part 192 or 195\npressure limitations. In addition, §199.11 requires the pipeline operator to drug test persons who\nperform on those devices any operating, maintenance, or emergency response function that Part\n192 or Part 195 regulates. Your letter indicates that persons working in the two plants are\nsubject to the drug testing requirements of §199.11.\nSincerely,\nCesar DeLeon\nDirector for Pipeline\nSafety Regulatory Programs\nDB\nC:\\WP51\\INTERPRT\\192\\1\\91-12-26\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":4031}