Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration March 16, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Duke Energy Gas Transmission Company (DEGT) petitioned the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for a waiver of compliance with 49 CFR 192.611, which requires natural gas pipeline operators to confirm or revise the maximum allowable operating pressure of a pipeline after a change in class location. DEGT requested the waiver for certain segments of its natural gas pipeline located in Tennessee and Kentucky that have changed, and for segments that may change from Class 1 to Class 2 in the future. Under the pipeline safety regulations, class location indicates the population density near a pipeline. As the population along a pipeline increases, the class location increases. DEGT proposed to conduct a set of alternative risk control activities, in lieu of pipe replacement or pressure reduction, on all the segments requested in the waiver.