Regulatory Change to Address Safety at Underground Natural Gas Storage Facilities - Interim Final Rule - PHMSA/DOT

On Monday, December 19, 2016, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of Transportation (DOT) published an interim final rule (IFR) that revises the Federal pipeline safety regulations to address critical safety issues related to downhole facilities, including wells, wellbore tubing, and casing, at underground natural gas storage facilities.  The IFR is in response to the incident that occurred at the Aliso Canyon facility in California on October 23, 2015.  The IFR has an effective date of January 18, 2017.

The IFR incorporates by reference two American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practices (RP): API RP 1170, ‘‘Design and Operation of Solution-mined Salt Caverns used for Natural Gas Storage,’’ issued in July 2015; and API RP 1171, ‘‘Functional Integrity of Natural Gas Storage in Depleted Hydrocarbon Reservoirs and Aquifer Reservoirs,’’ issued in September 2015.

Because the two API RPs are incorporated by reference, the only substantial changes to 49 CFR Part 191 relate to incident reports (Sec. 191.15), annual reports (Sec. 191.17), national registry of operators (Sec. 191.22), and reporting of safety-related conditions (Sec. 191.23).  Substantial changes to 49 CFR Part 192 are found in Sec. 192.12 which specifies the RP mention above.