By Richard Nemec
The need to regulate the more than 425,000 miles (683,971 km) of natural gas gathering pipelines throughout the United States for the first time stems from more than governmental fiat. It is tied to the transformation of the energy industry in the 21st century and the pipelines that supply increasingly complex markets.
With the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) during the past 15 years, gas volumes extracted and transported through gathering pipelines have swelled significantly.
As an offshoot of the fracking revolution, gathering line diameters, operating pressures, and associated risk factors have become similar to larger interstate transmission lines. Many reputable industry groups, led by the American Petroleum Institute (API), question the science and cost/benefit analyses behind the new rules, preferring what they call “fit-for-purpose” regulations instead.
“API supports the overall objectives of this rulemaking process, namely, establishing reasonable, risk-based safety standards for large diameter, high pressure gas gathering lines in Class 1 locations,” according to API’s Robin Rorick, vice president for midstream policy issues. “However, the safety record demonstrates that smaller diameter pipelines do not present sufficient risk to warrant application of the current proposed gathering line requirements. U.S. pipelines deliver products to Americans safely and reliably, and our industry is committed to its goal of operating with zero incidents through robust safety programs.”
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Authors of the regulations at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) understandably view the new requirements differently.
PHMSA officials see the new regulations as a series of firsts, more than a decade in the making, which puts all U.S. onshore gas pipelines under federal oversight. “The rule, initiated more than 10 years ago, expands the definition of a ‘regulated’ gas gathering pipeline that is more than 50 years old,” PHMSA said in issuing its Final Rule late last year.
“It will – for the first time – apply federal pipeline safety regulations to tens of thousands of miles of unregulated gas gathering pipelines. The final rule will – also for the first time – require pipeline operators to report safety information for all gas gathering lines, covered by federal reporting requirements.”
PHMSA published its Final Rule on Nov. 2, 2021, as the latest global climate conference was winding down in Glasgow, Scotland, significantly expanding reporting and safety requirements for operators of gas gathering pipelines, including lines that were previously unregulated.
The federal pipe regulations, along with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Air Act rulemakings for the oil and gas sector issued the same day, “further demonstrate the Biden administration’s overall commitment to action on climate change,” PHMSA officials emphasized. “The Final Rule requires operators to implement Part 192 requirements for certain newly regulated gas gathering lines located in Class 1 locations and requires Part 191 incident and annual reporting for all onshore gas gathering pipelines, regardless of location.”
Source: Pipeline and gas journal
