Page 18 - West Virginia 811 Magazine 2018 Issue 1

Dy/nhn/scnbl
Gas Pipeline Safety
have wntmn several eululnns ovcx always lalluws Lhc reeblnnlendanuns lnlernallbllal anrl [’ubll(Afffllr~ Tllls
llle years regarrllng the ofIcn- of the cmc. Transenpls of llle Individual ls- res-pbnslble for assuring
Pfll|’If|I1Pl"D(C~s of regulanng GPAC nleenngs used to be avallable lllal lbe current admInislrzmon'.s
p|pL‘lmL‘~ l aln relnlnderl of tlm on llle PHMSA web slle (the PHMSA legulalury reform pollcics are belng

analogy of makmg sausage and pass-lng well ~llc ls currently belng upgradcd lnlplelnenled. Al llle seeand cmc
leglslallbn —bOtll ean be extremely and full mnnlbnallly llas- yet [0 be lneellng, llls presence was qulle
unpleas-anl la watch. lll-led rd find lesluled) but are sllll avallallle ln lhc appalenl. By llle llllrd cmc lneellng,
the bllglnalur of Lhc analogy and, dockcl al l(lflY‘IL'.I('XM[/1!/Ul(5.XLIl/. l have llle pas-lllun was vacant. clearly,
dependlng un wlllell suuree you eall nut chctkud llle lalal, bul lyplcally PHMSA ls conmmed wllll llle eusl
belleve, llulll Om: vun Blsmartk (1315 eaell cmc gas Mega Rule nleenng of Lhc proposed ellanges but, in my

— 1898) and Mark Twaln (1335 — 1910; genelales sunlellllllg elbse [O BUD pages Dp|nlOn, |t would be ln [’HMSA’s besl
Offflmd eulnlnenls. As a slreplle,l of lransenpl lnlelesl (as well as llle publles bes-l
would s-lnlply add lllal, ln llle end, H I d V W lnleresl) Io lry to get that pbslllun filled
sausage ls usually much more palalable “V” "“‘ “ "‘> P°“‘ * as qulckly as pusslble. ln PHMSA’s

an new e ls anon ul new re atmn. e ense, |I ls a O lllea D~ll|un an
Ll’! l g l gul d r p l l p d
Baek ln 2011, PHMSA (llle Federal * ‘ ‘, _ Q , 4 ‘ PHMSA M’ "M" “ “"3 ‘"fl“‘“‘“
. -. J g ,.« . , s, as s legardlng wllu gels the lab ar wllen.

plpcllnc safcty regulatory ageney) , 1 V: L‘ l K‘ 75 , ,

slaned llle prbees-s ui lnlplelnellllng ' ' _ ‘ Nuw far a 3n,lmu-rubl repurl on
major revlslans [O Lhe regulalluns , . a t , . llle aelual plugress; Nolhmg ln
gavel-nlng nalural gas plpellnes. nus l “by ’L L “W llle Gas Mega Rule ls all Ihalezlrth
was llas-ed on ebnglesslunal dlreellles ‘ , ‘ sbanerlng ln lcrm~ of mqulnng
(legls-lanon), reeolnnlendanbns [mm or J; » Q. -. as e » Q 9 ,, lraeeable, venfiablu anrl Cumplclc

llle Nallbnal Tlanspurlallbn Safety Q . L ~>. . ‘ls -2 é , leeurds necessary to eslalllls-ll s-are
Buard (llley lnves-llgale plpellne as well a K V V * ' Dpexatlng pressures for gas pipellnes
as alrllne lnelrlenls), delnands rlbln 1 2,: ‘l a a, The rlellll ls, as they say, ln tlm
plpcline safely aellvls-ls, demands fmm ' i‘ - ~ l ‘~ detr1|l~. wllen lllls proees-s snarled ln
environmental aeuvlsls (wbb dun’t llkn v F, »« — 2011, Lhc pulllleal environment was
plpellnes — PERIOD), adverse pubhclty ll g : ll ,5 ‘ [L la; eunslderably diffcmm PHMSA louknd
relaled to several s-lgnllleanl lnelrlenls, ' * * ‘ A ' " at all tlm Input and rlullrully llled

the results of plpellne lnspeellbns, Input la accommudale all llle Input from
crbln slale plpellne s-arery ageneles, ‘ _ government and llle publlc 7 la llle
and Pl~lMsA's- own peleeplluns of :{“‘l“’:;f‘fC‘W“ "‘ ‘h‘ ”“:°‘C“’ 1M“g“V lune of aver lau pages ln llle Federal
wllal needed to be done Tlle nauee of ‘ “ E n (1 'l"L‘:“"g‘ "E _ “:"Lh‘“Pl’> Reglsler. In 2017, «he polllleal ellnlale
proposed rulenlalung was pulllls-lled ° “P” “‘ ‘ "‘‘"‘ °” ° “ ellanged. The mtcgnty of plpellnes

GPAC were all well pmpamd and well

Aprll 2, 2015 and gelleraled ovex mu uahfifid [0 mm M PHMSMW was, and ls, llle pnmary bbleellve.
eulnlnenls (over 4,000 pagesl). As fid _ ‘ h P‘ V Pk, ’ d Huwellel, eeunulnle iactun were

of January 2013, «he prueess ls ~tlIl to :m“‘:;“;§::“ ‘i finally leeugnlzed as a eunslderallun
golng on. In dale, thcrre‘ have been * 3 wllere ean lllnlled lesuurees be besl

_ _ _ pubhc eblnnlenl punod, and PHMSA ‘ ,
lbree lneellngs of llle cas Plpellne ‘ d H‘ I Y lnvesled lO€nlh1nCL plpellne sarely
Advisory cunllnlllee (CPACD Tlle ”‘”"“ ' “ W “‘ "" °P‘"'°“' "‘°" PHMSA llad lleen prunluling l-lsk-
CPACl\as15 members —5 each from °|’;“ ‘: d'l“."_’5““ WM‘ ““*’““ '° llased legulauuns (a goud Llungl) but
gavel-nnlenl, the gas p|pL‘llnQ lndustry, "' “" ““ "°""’ PHMSA’- euneepl of wllal ll eusls lo
and llle pubIlc— and PHMSA alnlusl one lssue of personal ebneern relales to uperale a plpellne ls, ln nly erpellenee,
llle PHMSA D|mclor of cuvernnlenlal,

16 . was vllglala E11 em, Vssus l