Silent Energy Revolution

SOURCE: The American

How ironic that during the ‘drill, baby, drill’ demonstrations as gasoline prices spiked in 2007 and 2008, a silent revolution with natural gas was already underway that will make those concerns largely irrelevant. … Continue Reading

PHMSA issues final rule on Control Room Management (CRM)

PHMSA has issued the final rule on Control Room Management. The rule requires control room management procedures to be developed by August 1, 2011 and implemented by February 1, 2012. The final rule can be found here.

PHMSA releases the final DIMP rule

December 4, 2009

Today, PHMSA released the final Distribution Integrity Management Rule (DIMP). The rule can be found here. The effective date of the regulation is February 2, 2010. There is a comment period on the rule and comments are invited on the provisions for reporting failures of compression couplings. The comment period ends January 3, 2010. At the end of the comment period, PHMSA will publish a document modifying the provisions of DIMP or a document stating that these provisions will remain unchanged. The Texas Gas Association will be issuing an executive summary of the rule and will be having regional meetings to introduce and discuss the rule and the requirements of the rule beginning in January of 2010.

PHMSA seeks comments on ANPRM on Damage Prevention

On Thursday, October 29, 2009, PHMSA published in the Federal Register an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on Pipeline Damage Prevention.

The summary of the ANPNR is: “This Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) initiates a rulemaking procedure to establish criteria for determining adequate state enforcement of pipeline damage prevention laws. Under the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Safety and Enforcement (PIPES) Act of 2006, establishment of these criteria is a prerequisite should PHMSA find it necessary to conduct an enforcement proceeding against an excavator for violation of one-call damage prevention laws in the absence of enforcement action by the state where the events occurred. This notice is issued to solicit feedback and comments regarding the criteria and procedures PHMSA shoule use to determine if a state’s enforcement of its damage prevention laws is adequate. These procedures will encourage states to develop effective excavation damage prevention enforcement programs to protect gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, but also allow federal enforcement authority should any state fail to do so.”

Dates: Persons interested in submitting written comments on this ANPRM must do so y December 14, 2009. PHMSA will consider late filed comments so far as practicable.