(1)
Identification and
Designation.
(a) Each Gas
Company shall designate Grade 3 gas leaks as environmentally significant if
during the initial identification or the most recent annual survey if:
1. the highest barhole reading shows a
gas-in-air reading of 50% or higher or
2. the Leak Extent is 2,000 square feet or
greater.
A Gas Company is not precluded from proposing to the Department
a more rigorous method of designating environmentally significant Grade 3 leaks
based on field data or tested and proven technologies that may become available
from time to time. Such proposals shall be submitted to the Department for
approval.
(b)
Each Gas Company with a GSEP shall incorporate the environmentally significant
Grade 3 identification criteria into its GSEP and report the number of
environmentally significant Grade 3 leaks on each length of GSEP-eligible pipe
in its annual GREC filing.
(2)
Repair or
Elimination.
(a) Each Gas
Company shall repair or eliminate environmentally significant Grade 3 gas leaks
initially designated on or after January 1, 2018 as set out in
220
CMR 114.07(1)(a), provided
that such repair or elimination does not compromise public safety, as follows:
1. Barhole-designated leaks shall be repaired
or eliminated within two years of initial designation, provided that any such
leaks located on a pipe scheduled for repair under the GSEP within five years
shall be repaired or eliminated within three years of initial
designation;
2. Leak-extent
designated leaks with a Leak Extent between 2,000 and 10,000 square feet shall
be repaired or eliminated within two years of initial designation, provided
that any such leaks located on a pipe scheduled for repair under the GSEP
within five years shall be repaired or eliminated within three years of initial
designation; and
3. Leak-extent
designated leaks with a Leak Extent greater than 10,000 square feet shall be
repaired or eliminated within 12 months of initial designation, provided that
any such leaks located on a pipe scheduled for repair under the GSEP within
three years shall be repaired or eliminated within two years of initial
designation.
(b) The
Department may, pursuant to
220 CMR
114.03, grant an exception to the time frames
for repair in
220
CMR 114.07(2)(a) for
environmentally significant Grade 3 leaks that are inaccessible, challenging to
repair, or in a street under a paving moratorium.
(c) A Gas Company may choose to cap its
environmentally significant Grade 3 leak repairs in any one calendar year at 7%
of its total Grade 3 leak inventory as indicated in the previous year's final
quarterly leak report.
(d) Each Gas
Company shall file a plan with the Department to eliminate environmentally
significant Grade 3 leaks existing prior to January 1, 2018 with its next
Annual Service Quality Report, if required to file such report, or on March 1,
2020. The Gas Companies shall thereafter submit an update with each subsequent
Annual Service Quality Report, or annually on March
1st, as applicable, until all such leaks are
eliminated.
(3) If a Gas
Company uses the leak-extent method to designate Grade 3 leaks as
environmentally significant, the Gas Company shall measure a statistically
significant randomized sample of environmentally significant Grade 3 leaks
prior to repair using the FLUX bar method for a period of one year following
implementation of the leak-extent method. Each such Gas Company shall report
the FLUX bar measurements in
(a) its next
Annual Service Quality Report, or
(b) in a report to the Department on March
1st following the one-year period of
measurement.
(4)
Redesignation. A Grade 3 leak initially designated as environmentally
significant by the Barhole method may be redesignated to a standard Grade 3
leak if a subsequent annual survey measurement indicates that the leak no
longer qualifies as environmentally significant in accordance with
220
CMR 114.07(1)(a).
