DOT Issues Regulatory Bulletin For Abandoned Oil & Gas Pipelines
DOT Issues Regulatory Bulletin For Abandoned Oil, Gas Pipelines
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation, through the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, issued a bulletin mandated under the recently enacted Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2016 clarifying the regulatory requirements for abandoned pipelines that at one time carried hazardous liquids. The bulletin lays out the rules that owners and operators will have to follow if they change the operational status of a pipeline facility from active to abandoned.
In short, the bulletin clarifies PHMSA regulations, and states that owners and operators of hazardous liquid, carbon dioxide and gas pipelines are fully responsible for the safety of their pipelines at all times, even if they are abandoned and no longer in active use. After industry opposition and comment, PHMSA conceded that it would consider proposing procedures in a future rulemaking that will address methods that owners or operators could use to notify regulators of purged but still active pipelines.
PHMSA Press Release HERE.
Federal Register Notice HERE.