PHMSA published two pipeline-safety rules on October 14, 2016, with different purposes and starting dates. For this October 15 weekend review, both are developments from the prior week rather than new Saturday actions. One concerns equipment on gas service lines. The other establishes the agency's procedures for responding to imminent hazards across operators. [2016-24817][2016-24788]

The equipment rule takes effect April 14, 2017. Excess flow valves shut off unplanned, excessive gas flows, particularly following excavation damage between a gas main and a building. The expansion includes specified new or entirely replaced residential branches, multifamily services and small commercial services up to 1,000 standard cubic feet per hour. It is not a universal requirement to retrofit every existing connection. [2016-24817]

New or replaced lines above 1,000 standard cubic feet per hour instead need manual shutoff valves or appropriate excess flow valves. Existing eligible customers receive notice of a request option, with cost allocation left to the operator's rate-setter. Thus a manual valve, an automatic valve and a customer's retrofit request describe different parts of the rule, not interchangeable protections. [2016-24817]

The emergency-order interim rule took effect October 14, with comments due December 13, 2016. It implements authority to address unsafe conditions or practices posing imminent hazards to health, safety or the environment across a subset of the industry or more broadly. An enforcement procedure is not an installed valve, and publication of that procedure is not evidence that a particular emergency order was issued. The two PHMSA records supply complementary detail, not independent corroboration of results. [2016-24788][2016-24817]

Source documents

  1. Pipeline Safety: Expanding the Use of Excess Flow Valves in Gas Distribution Systems to Applications Other Than Single-Family Residenceshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-10-14/html/2016-24817.htm
  2. Pipeline Safety: Enhanced Emergency Order Procedureshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-10-14/html/2016-24788.htm