Pipeline Valve Rule GPAC/LPAC Meeting
The Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) and the Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committee (LPAC) met last week to discuss the Amendments to 49 CFR Parts 192 and 195 to require Valve Installation and Minimum Rupture Detection Standards.
The Valve Installation and Minimum Rupture Detection Standards rule is one of the final rulemakings to come out of the 2011 Pipeline Safety Act. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) collected data through an August 25, 2011 natural gas Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) and a hazardous liquid October 18, 2010 ANPRM on the topic and published the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register on February 6, 2020. The public comment period closed April 6, 2020. In the GPAC and LPAC meetings PHMSA presented the public comments and their proposed responses on various topics. The public had one more opportunity to comment, then the Committees debated the topics below and made recommendations for the Final Rule, which is anticipated sometime later in 2020 or in 2021.
The meetings covered several topics, including:
o Rupture mitigation
· Definition and identification
· Rupture response - valve closure time
· Rupture reporting
o Rupture mitigation valves
· Applicable pipelines
· Valve technology
· Integrity Management integration
· Implementation period
o Valve spacing, location, and status monitoring
o Class location changes
· Timing
· Segment length
o Maintenance requirements
· Point-to-point testing
· Manual valve drills
· Repair/replacement timeframes
o Failure investigations
· Lessons learned
o Communications with 911/Emergency Responders
For further details GPAC slides may be found here and LPAC slides may be found here. If you have questions as you begin to evaluate procedural and implementation strategies, contact us at Nicole.Tebow@ElementalCompliance.com or Lauren.Tipton@ElementalCompliance.com and Elemental Compliance will assist your organization with moving forward.