Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT.
Notice.
PHMSA is publishing this notice to seek public comments on a request for special permit, seeking relief from compliance with certain requirements in the federal pipeline safety regulations. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, PHMSA will review the comments received from this notice as part of its evaluation to grant or deny the special permit request.
Submit any comments regarding this special permit request by June 2, 2017.
Comments should reference the docket number for the specific special permit request and may be submitted in the following ways:
•
•
•
•
PHMSA has received a special permit request from a pipeline operator seeking relief from compliance with certain federal pipeline safety regulations. The request includes a technical analysis, environmental assessment, proposed special permit conditions, and location map for the pipeline provided by the operator and has been filed at
Before issuing a decision on the special permit request, PHMSA will evaluate all comments received on or
PHMSA has received a special permit request from Donlin Gold, LLC, (DGLLC), to deviate from the pipeline safety regulations in its construction, design, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of a 14-inch, 315-mile pipeline. The proposed pipeline would transport natural gas from the Cook Inlet in Alaska to the Donlin Gold project site in Western Alaska. The lead agency responsible for authorizing siting and construction of the Donlin Gold mine and pipeline servicing the mine is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The USACE has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).
DGLLC has requested that PHMSA allow the use of Strain-Based Design (SBD) for segments of the pipeline. PHMSA regulates the design, construction and operation of natural gas transmission pipelines under 49 CFR part 192. Use of SBD would allow the proposed pipeline to be buried in permafrost and discontinuous permafrost soils. SBD is not specifically addressed in Part 192. These soils exert significant strains on a pipeline due to thaw settlement, frost heave, and ground movements.
PHMSA is considering issuing a special permit with conditions that would require specific materials, engineering, construction, and O&M procedures to mitigate the external forces of thaw settlement and longitudinal bending strains that exceed allowed limits in the specified SBD Segments.
The proposed SBD special permit conditions are designed to achieve the level of safety that is normally achieved through full compliance with 49 CFR part 192, including §§ 192.103, 192.105, 192.111, 192.317, and 192.619. The pipeline will supply gas to provide heating and generate electricity to power the industrial equipment at the gold mine.
The pipeline origin will tie into an existing natural gas pipeline at Cook Inlet, approximately 30-miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage at a tie-in near Beluga, Alaska, and will terminate at the Donlin Gold mine site. The first 117 miles of the pipeline will be located within the Matanuska-Sustina Borough, while the remainder of the 315-mile pipeline, including all the requested SBD segments, will be located in the Unorganized Borough. The pipeline terminus at Mile Post 315 is about 10-miles (16 kilometers) north of the village of Crooked Creek, Alaska.
The project design pressure and maximum allowable operating pressure will be 1,480 pounds per square inch gauge (psig). The minimum delivery pressure required at the mine is 550 psig. PHMSA's EA references USACE's DEIS, which is also available in Docket No. PHMSA–2016–0149. The USACE's DEIS of the Donlin Gold Project can be assessed at