60166 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 168 / Thursday, August 31, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

1https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations. 

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 

SAFETY BOARD 

49 CFR Part 831 

[Docket No.: NTSB–2023–0008] 

RIN 3147–AA29 

Authority of NTSB in Railroad, 

Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials 

Investigations 

AGENCY: National Transportation Safety 

Board (NTSB). 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking (ANPRM). 

SUMMARY: The National Transportation 

Safety Board (NTSB) is publishing this 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

(ANPRM) to seek public feedback on 

whether it should define the terms 

‘‘significant injury to the environment’’ 

and ‘‘substantial property damage’’ as 

they relate to the agency’s investigative 

authority involving pipeline accidents. 

Neither the agency’s statute nor the 

regulation currently defines these terms; 

thus, the NTSB seeks comments on 

whether defining them would better 

clarify the scope of regulatory coverage 

for its pipeline investigations. The 

issues raised in the comments submitted 

in response to this ANPRM will inform 

whether and how the NTSB will define 

these terms in its regulation. 

DATES: Send comments on or before 

October 30, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by Docket Number (No.) 

NTSB–2023–0008, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov. 

• Email: rulemaking@ntsb.gov. 

• Fax: 202–314–6090. 

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: NTSB, 

Office of General Counsel, 490 L’Enfant 

Plaza East SW, Washington, DC 20594. 

Instructions: All submissions in 

response to this ANPRM must include 

Docket No. NTSB–2023–0008. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

Docket: For access to the docket, go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and search 

Docket No. NTSB–2023–0008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Thomas (Tom) McMurry, Jr., 

General Counsel, (202) 314–6080, 

rulemaking@ntsb.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the Independent Safety 

Board Act of 1974, as amended, the 

NTSB is required to ‘‘investigate or have 

investigated (in detail the Board 

prescribes) and establish the facts, 

circumstances, and cause or probable 

cause of a pipeline accident in which 

there is a fatality, substantial property 

damage, or significant injury to the 

environment.’’ 49 U.S.C. 1131(a)(1)(D). 

The NTSB’s regulations found at 49 CFR 

831.40(a)(2) further explain that the 

NTSB has the authority to investigate 

‘‘pipeline accidents, explosions, 

incidents, and ruptures in which there 

is a fatality, significant injury to the 

environment, or substantial property 

damage.’’ 

Notably, the agency’s regulation has 

neither a definition nor threshold for the 

terms ‘‘significant injury to the 

environment’’ or ‘‘substantial property 

damage’’ as used in § 831.40(a)(2). The 

NTSB believes that defining these terms 

will clarify the types of pipeline 

accidents that the NTSB will 

investigate. Thus, the NTSB is soliciting 

comments on the promulgation of the 

regulatory definitions of ‘‘significant 

injury to the environment’’ and 

‘‘substantial property damage’’ 

particular to pipeline accidents. 

The NTSB recognizes that pipeline 

regulations are more complicated and 

extensive than what can be realistically 

covered in this ANPRM as there are 

various Federal regulations addressing 

hazardous liquid and natural gas 

pipelines. Federal agencies with such 

regulations include the United States 

Coast Guard (USCG), the Department of 

Interior (DOI), and the Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration (PHMSA) (an operating 

administration within the U.S. 

Department of Transportation (DOT)). 

For example, there are also hazardous 

liquid dock lines that are regulated by 

USCG under 33 CFR part 154 (Facilities 

Transferring Oil or Hazardous Material 

in Bulk). Moreover, offshore hazardous 

liquid and natural gas lines are 

regulated by DOI under 30 CFR part 250 

(Oil and Gas and Sulphur Operations in 

the Outer Continental Shelf). 

Additionally, 49 CFR parts 191 

(Transportation of Natural and Other 

Gas by Pipeline: Annual Incident, and 

Other Reporting), 192 (Transportation of 

Natural and Other Gas by Pipeline: 

Minimum Federal Safety Standards), 

193 (Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities: 

Federal Safety Standards), 194 

(Response Plans for Onshore Oil 

Pipelines), and 195 (Transportation of 

Hazardous Liquids by Pipeline) are 

PHMSA regulations pertaining to 

pipeline safety. 

In addition to the aforementioned 

Federal regulations, there are individual 

state laws regarding intrastate pipelines 

that the NTSB also has the authority to 

investigate. 

For purposes of this rulemaking, the 

NTSB finds it appropriate to align its 

rule with those promulgated by 

PHMSA, which is ‘‘responsible for 

regulating and ensuring the safe and 

secure movement of hazardous 

materials to industry and consumers by 

all modes of transportation, including 

pipelines.’’ 1 Accordingly, the NTSB 

reviewed PHMSA’s regulation to better 

understand how that agency defines 

both substantial property damage and 

significant harm to the environment. 

While there are various PHMSA 

regulations as noted above, there are 

two of particular interest to the NTSB. 

As will be discussed further below, for 

substantial property damage, the NTSB 

is considering adopting the reporting 

accident requirements provided in 49 

CFR 191.9 (Distribution system: 

Incident report) for natural gas and 49 

CFR 195.50 (Reporting Accidents) for 

hazardous liquids. For significant injury 

to the environment, the NTSB is 

considering adopting the standard 

contained in 49 CFR 194.103 

(Significant and Substantial Harm: 

Operator’s Statement). 

I. Substantial Property Damage 

The NTSB is considering adopting the 

standards set forth in 49 CFR 191.9 

(Distribution system: Incident report), 

and 49 CFR 191.15 (Transmission 

systems; gathering systems; liquefied 

natural gas facilities; and underground 

natural gas storage facilities: Incident 

report). The NTSB is also considering 

reporting pipeline accidents found in 40 

CFR 195.50 (Reporting accidents 

[involving hazardous liquid pipelines]. 

These regulations require an incident/ 

accident report for each failure in a 

pipeline system when there is a release 

of natural gas, hazardous liquid, or 

carbon dioxide. Section 195.50(d) 

specifies that an accident report is 

required ‘‘for each failure in a pipeline 

system . . . in which there is a release 

of the hazardous liquid . . .’’ resulting 

in ‘‘[e]stimated property damage, 

including cost of clean-up and recovery, 

value of lost product, and damage to the 

property of the operator or others, or 

both, exceeding’’ a specified amount. 

If the NTSB uses PHMSA’s monetary 

threshold above or any other monetary 

threshold, the NTSB is further 

considering whether to have its 

reporting threshold indexed to inflation, 

which PHMSA does not calculate for 

hazardous liquids in 49 CFR 195.50(e). 

By contrast, for natural gas, PHMSA 

uses a property damage reporting 

threshold formula that is indexed to 

inflation in accordance with a formula 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 168 / Thursday, August 31, 2023 / Proposed Rules 60167 

detailed appendix A to part 191 

(Procedure for Determining Reporting 

Threshold). 

II. Significant Harm to the Environment 

As noted above, the NTSB is 

considering the standard contained in 

§ 194.103 (Significant and Substantial 

Harm: Operator’s Statement) to define 

‘‘significant injury to the environment.’’ 

Section 194.103(a) explains when a line 

section ‘‘can be expected to cause 

‘significant and substantial harm to the 

environment’ in the event of a discharge 

of oil into or on the navigable waters or 

adjoining shorelines.’’ 

Specifically, that regulation further 

provides that a line section may result 

in significant and substantial harm to 

the environment involving an oil 

discharge if the pipeline is greater than 

65⁄8 inches in outside nominal diameter, 

greater than 10 miles in length, and the 

line section meets any of the following: 

has experienced within the previous 

five years either a release greater than 

1,000 barrels, or two or more reportable 

releases; containing an electric 

resistance welded pipe, which operates 

at a maximum pressure that corresponds 

to a stress level greater than 50 percent 

of the specified minimum yield strength 

of the pipe; is located within a 5-mile 

radius of potentially affected public 

drinking water intakes and can 

reasonably be expected to reach such 

intakes; or located within a 1-mile 

radius of potentially-affected 

environmentally sensitive areas, and 

could reasonably be expected to reach 

such areas. See 49 CFR 194.103(c). 

Using PHMSA’s regulation as a 

model, the NTSB proposes the following 

definition for ‘‘significant injury to the 

environment’’: ‘‘a discharge of 1,000 

barrels or more of crude oil, refined 

petroleum product or anhydrous 

ammonia; into or on the navigable 

waters or adjoining shorelines or 

unusually sensitive areas.’’ The NTSB 

notes that unusually sensitive areas are 

defined in PHMSA’s 49 CFR 195.6 and 

includes environmentally sensitive 

areas and drinking water sources. 

III. Public Comment 

To assist the NTSB in defining 

‘‘substantial property damage’’ and 

‘‘significant injury to the environment’’ 

as those terms relate to pipeline 

accidents, the public is asked to address 

any or all of the following questions: 

1. Should the NTSB define 

‘‘substantial property damage’’? 

2. How should the NTSB define 

‘‘substantial property damage’’? 

3. As noted above, PHMSA has 

accident report thresholds for property 

damage that are indexed to inflation. 

Should the NTSB’s property damage 

value be consistent with PHMSA’s 

reporting threshold? 

4. How should the NTSB calculate the 

threshold value of ‘‘substantial property 

damage’’? 

5. Should ‘‘substantial property 

damage’’ be based on total property 

damage, pipeline property damage, or 

non-pipeline property damage? 

6. Should the dollar amount 

established be indexed for inflation? 

7. Should ‘‘substantial property 

damage’’ consider factors other than 

monetary value? 

8. Should the same definition apply to 

both municipality owned pipelines and 

publicly-traded company pipelines? 

9. Should the NTSB define 

‘‘significant injury to the environment’’? 

10. Is the NTSB’s proposed definition 

for ‘‘significant injury to the 

environment’’ sufficient? 

11. How should the NTSB define 

‘‘significant injury to the environment’’? 

12. Should the NTSB’s definition of 

‘‘significant injury to the environment’’ 

be consistent with the PHMSA’s 

definition of ‘‘significant and substantial 

harm to the environment’’ under 49 CFR 

194.103(c)? 

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 831 

Aircraft accidents, Aircraft incidents, 

Aviation safety, Hazardous materials 

transportation, Highway safety, 

Investigations, Marine safety, Pipeline 

safety, Railroad safety. 

William T. McMurry, Jr., 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18842 Filed 8–30–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7533–01–P 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1