Federal Reporting Deadline Looms for Gas Transmission Line Operators
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the federal agency responsible for ensuring the safety of our nation’s gas pipelines, has given transmission line operators until March 15, 2013, to determine whether they have sufficient records to confirm the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) for segments located in densely populated and other high consequence areas. PHMSA imposed that deadline to comply with a mandate in the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, Pub. L. No. 112-90, the most recent reauthorization of the federal pipeline safety laws. More information on PHMSA’s MAOP verification requirements is available in the latest edition of the PBA Environmental & Energy Law Section Newsletter.