Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT.
Notice of advisory committee meeting.
This notice announces a public meeting of the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee, also known as the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC). The GPAC will meet to continue discussing topics and provisions for the proposed rule titled “Safety of Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipelines.”
The committee will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Tuesday, June 6, 2017, and Wednesday, June 7, 2017.
The meeting will be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway, 801 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22203. The meeting agenda, and any additional information will be published on the following pipeline advisory committee meeting and registration page:
The meetings will not be webcast; however, presentations will be available on the meeting Web site and posted on the E-Gov Web site,
This meeting will be open to the public. Members of the public who wish to attend in person are asked to register at the meeting links above no later than Friday, June 2, 2017 in order to facilitate entry and guarantee seating. Members of the public who attend in person will also be provided an opportunity to make a statement during the meeting.
If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your written comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard with the following statement: “Comments on PHMSA–2016–0136.” The docket clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to returning it to you via the U.S. mail.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to
For information about the meeting, contact Cheryl Whetsel by phone at 202–366–4431 or by email at
The GPAC will be considering the proposed rule titled, “Safety of Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipelines,” which was published in the
• Require periodic assessments of pipelines in locations where persons are expected to be at risk that are not already covered under the integrity management program requirements.
• Modify the repair criteria, both inside and outside of high consequence areas (HCAs).
• Require inspections of pipelines in areas affected by extreme weather, man-made and natural disasters, and other similar events.
• Provide additional specificity for in-line inspections, including explicit requirements to account for uncertainty of reported inspection data when evaluating in-line inspection data to identify anomalies.
• Expand integrity assessment methods to explicitly address guided wave ultrasonic inspection and excavation with direct in-situ examination.
• Provide clearer functional requirements for conducting risk assessments for integrity management, including addressing seismic risks.
• Expand the mandatory data collection and integration requirements for integrity management, including data validation and seismicity.
• Add requirements to address management of change.
• Repeal the use of API Recommended Practice 80 for gathering lines.
• Apply Type B requirements along with emergency requirements to newly regulated greater than 8-inch Type A gathering lines in Class 1 locations (GAO Recommendation 14–667).
• Extend the reporting requirements to all gathering lines.
• Expand requirements for corrosion protection to specify additional post-construction quality checks, and periodic operational and maintenance checks to address coating integrity, cathodic protection, and gas quality monitoring.
• Require operators to report maximum allowable operating pressure exceedances.
• Require safety features on in-line inspection tool launchers and receivers.
• Add certain types of roadways to the definition of “identified sites” (NTSB P–14–1).
• Address grandfathered pipe and pipe with inadequate records.
The GPAC meeting agenda will include a discussion on the following topics as time permits:
The agenda will be published on the PHMSA meeting page
The GPAC is a statutorily mandated advisory committee that advises PHMSA on proposed gas pipeline safety standards and their associated risk assessments. The committee is established in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2, as amended) and 49 U.S.C. 60115. The committee consists of 15 members with membership evenly divided among federal and state governments, the regulated industry, and the general public. The committees advise PHMSA on the technical feasibility, reasonableness, cost-effectiveness, and practicability of each proposed pipeline safety standard.