17220 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 66 / Friday, April 6, 2007 / Notices 

1 In accordance with the trackage rights 

agreement, UP indicates that it will utilize its 

trackage rights from April 27, 2007, through May 

19, 2007, and from August 7, 2007, through August 

28, 2007. 

Ultrasonic examinations of welds on 

metal containers shall comply with 

section 7.3.1.2 of NFPA Standard 59A, 

2006 Edition and 59A TIA06; (2) the 

owner/operator shall retain all 

ultrasonic examination records for the 

life of the facility and these records 

shall be retained in a manner so they 

may not be altered; and (3) the interval 

for verifying the examination of welds 

against a calibration standard shall be 

eight hours or less. If the ultrasonic 

equipment is found to be out of 

calibration, all previous weld 

examinations determined by the 

operator shall be reexamined by 

ultrasonic equipment within a week. 

Issued in Washington, DC on April 2, 2007. 

Jeffrey D. Wiese, 

Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline 

Safety. 

[FR Doc. 07–1706 Filed 4–2–07; 4:52 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

[Docket No. PHMSA–06–25734; Notice 2] 

Pipeline Safety: Grant of Waiver; 

Freeport LNG 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA); U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

ACTION: Grant of Waiver; Freeport LNG. 

SUMMARY: Freeport LNG (FLNG) 

requested a waiver of compliance from 

the Federal pipeline safety regulation 

that requires liquefied natural gas (LNG) 

facilities constructed after March 31, 

2000 to comply with the National Fire 

Protection Association’s Standard 59A 

(NFPA 59A), 2001 Edition. The waiver 

specifically requested permission to use 

ultrasonic examination as an acceptable 

alternative non-destructive testing 

method for welds on LNG tanks. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

FLNG requested a waiver from 

compliance of the Federal pipeline 

safety requirements at 49 CFR 193.2301 

for its facility at Quintana Terminal, 

Texas. This regulation requires each 

LNG facility constructed after March 31, 

2000 to comply with 49 CFR part 193 

and NFPA Standard 59A, 2001 Edition. 

NFPA Standard 59A, 2001 Edition 

requires that welded containers 

designed for not more than 15 pounds 

per square inch gauge comply with the 

Eighth Edition, 1990, of American 

Petroleum Institute Standard 620 (API 

620), ‘‘Design and Construction of Large, 

Welded, Low-Pressure Storage Tanks 

(Appendix Q).’’ The Eighth Edition of 

API 620 requires inspection according 

to Appendix Q which calls for a full 

radiographic examination of all vertical 

and horizontal butt welds associated 

with the container. 

FLNG proposes to use the Tenth 

Edition, 2002, Addendum 1 of the 2004 

edition of API 620 at its Quintana 

Terminal LNG facility. The Tenth 

Edition allows ultrasonic examination 

as well as radiography as an acceptable 

alternative non-destructive testing 

method. FLNG proposes to use 

ultrasonic examination, which consists 

of full semi-automated and manual 

ultrasonic examination using shear 

wave probes. The examination will also 

consist of a volumetric ultrasonic 

examination using a combination of 

creep wave probes and focused angled 

longitudinal wave probes. To allow 

ultrasonic examination in accordance 

with the most recent NFPA Standard 

59A, 2006 Edition, a waiver is required. 

PHMSA considered FLNG’s waiver 

request and published a notice in the 

Federal Register inviting interested 

persons to comment on whether a 

waiver should be granted (71 FR 56583; 

September 27, 2006). No comments 

were received. 

The NFPA issued a Tentative Interim 

Amendment to NFPA Standard 59A, 

2006 Edition, effective February 14, 

2006 (59A TIA06). The amendment 

incorporates API 620, Tenth Edition, 

2002, Addendum 1, 2004. The Tenth 

Edition adds ultrasonic examination as 

an acceptable non-destructive testing 

method of examination for welds. The 

proposed wording of the Tenth Edition, 

Addendum 1, 2004 of API 620 deletes 

‘‘radiographic’’ inspection and replaces 

it with ‘‘complete’’ examination and 

defines ‘‘complete’’ examination as 

radiographic or ultrasonic examination. 

Decision: PHMSA finds that the use of 

ultrasonic examination in accordance 

with NFPA Standard 59A, 2006 Edition 

and 59A TIA06 is not inconsistent with 

pipeline safety and achieves an 

equivalent level of safety. Therefore, 

FLNG’s request for waiver of 

compliance with § 193.2301 is granted, 

subject to the following conditions: (1) 

Ultrasonic examinations of welds on 

metal containers shall comply with 

section 7.3.1.2 of NFPA Standard 59A, 

2006 Edition and 59A TIA06; (2) the 

owner/operator shall retain all 

ultrasonic examination records for the 

life of the facility and these records 

shall be retained in a manner so they 

may not be altered; and (3) the interval 

for verifying the examination of welds 

against a calibration standard shall be 

eight hours or less. If the ultrasonic 

equipment is found to be out of 

calibration, all previous weld 

examinations determined by the 

operator shall be reexamined by 

ultrasonic equipment within a week. 

Issued in Washington, DC on April 2, 2007. 

Jeffrey D. Wiese, 

Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline 

Safety. 

[FR Doc. 07–1705 Filed 4–2–07; 4:52 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35007] 

Union Pacific Railroad CompanyTemporary Trackage Rights 

Exemption-BNSF Railway Company 

Pursuant to a written trackage rights 

agreement dated March 15, 2007, BNSF 

Railway Company (BNSF) has agreed to 

grant temporary overhead trackage 

rights to Union Pacific Railroad 

Company (UP) over approximately 2 

miles of BNSF’s lines extending 

between Basta, CA (milepost 163.15), 

and Fullerton, CA (milepost 165.23). 

The transaction is scheduled to be 

consummated on April 27, 2007. The 

temporary trackage rights are intended 

to expire on or about August 28, 2007.1

The purpose of the temporary 

trackage rights is to facilitate 

maintenance work on UP lines. 

As a condition to this exemption, any 

employee affected by the acquisition of 

the temporary trackage rights will be 

protected by the conditions imposed in 

Norfolk and Western Ry. Co.-Trackage 

Rights-BN, 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as 

modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.- 

Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653 

(1980), and any employee affected by 

the discontinuance of those trackage 

rights will be protected by the 

conditions set out in Oregon Short Line 

R. Co.-Abandonment-Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 

91 (1979). 

This notice is filed under 49 CFR 

1180.2(d)(8). If it contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the effectiveness of 

the exemption. Any stay petition must 


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