AGA Summary of Existing State and Federal Leak Survey Requirements June 10, 2010

Federal and State Leak Survey Regulations: Natural gas distribution operators are currently required to adhere to both federal and state leak reporting requirements. Performance based regulations drafted by the Department of Transportation (DOT) do not prescribe the level of detail in the proposed Subpart W, but o perators are already completing leak surveys and reporting leaks identified in a manner that addresses the intent of the proposed rule. PHMSA works in concert with the state regulators to ensure

leaks are identified and r eported on a regular and, when needed, expeditious manner. PHMSA posts summary leak information that is collected by all the states for any member of the public to review: http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov /comm/states.htm?nocache=2058

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AGA encourages EPA to review the state regu latory information that is publically available to ensure the final reporting rule does not duplicate, and where possible aligns with, regulatory requirements al ready in place. For example, if EPA finds that further granularity is needed to perform leak su rveys on components at M&R and city gate stations for use in applying leaker emission factors to those components, then it would help to reduce costs and burdens if this component survey could be performed at the same time as the leak surveys performed to comply with existing state and federal leak survey requirements. U nder 49 C.F.R. §192.723, DOT PHMSA requires LDCs to conduct periodic leak surveys. Section 192.723(b) provides that

“ The type and scope of the leakage c ontrol program must be determined by the nature of the operations and the lo cal conditions, but it must meet the following minimum requirements:

(1) A leakage survey with leak detector equipment must be conducted in business districts, including tests of the atmosphere in gas, electric, telephone, sewer, and water system ma nholes, at cracks in pavement and sidewalks, and at other locations prov iding an opportunity for finding gas leaks, at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar

year. (2) A leakage survey with leak detector equipment must be conducted outside business districts as frequent ly as necessary, but at least once every 5 calendar year s... However, for cathodically unprotected distribution lines subject to §192.465(e) on which el ectrical surveys for corrosion are impractical, a leakage survey must be conducted at least once every 3 calendar years...”

Annual DOT Report : Leak survey results must be reported to DOT PHMSA annually on Form 49 CFR191 OMB No. 2137-0522. A copy of the form is available at the DOT PHMSA web link provided above.ANSI-Accredited Industry Standard s for Leak Surveys – GPTC Guide: A consensus industry standards organizati on has developed detailed guidance that LDCs follow to ensure compliance with the federal DOT PHMSA leak survey requirements. This industry standard guidan ce is available for purchase through AGA’s

web site. AGA serves as the secretariat to the Accredited Standar ds Committee (ASC) Z380, Gas Piping Technology Committee (G PTC). The GPTC develops and publishes ANSI Z380.1, Guide for Gas Transmission and Dis tribution Piping Syst ems. Information

is available online: http://www.aga.org/Committees/got ocommitteepages/gaspiping/

. The committee meets three times per year and has a list of approximately 75 open “transactions” (projects) to revise various provisions in the Guide. The committee publishes three addenda to the Guide every year which contain updates. The Guide is published as a new edition every three years. Copies of the cover page, table of contents and sample pages regardi ng leak surveys are attached.

Five Year Rolling Average for Fac ilities in Non-Business Districts : To comply with 192.723(b)(2), LDCs conduct leak surveys eac h year of 20 percent of the non-business district pipe and equipment, including components at M&R stations and city gates. If EPA decides to impose a more specific l eak survey requirement under proposed 40 C.F.R. §98.233(q) for the eight components identified in proposed 40 C.F.R. §98.232(i)(1), AGA asks that the agency align the survey frequency of components in

non-business districts with the cu rrent practice of leak su rveying 20% of the pipe and M&R and city gates components in non-busine ss districts each year, using a 5-year rolling average for purposes of the leaker emissi on factor calculation. This should be an option at least for LDCs operating in a stat e that does not require more frequent surveys than the federal rule require s for non-business districts.

More Stringent State Leak Survey Requirements: It should be noted that every state reserves the right to require leak monitoring and reporting requirements beyond what is specified by DOT. For example, effect ive February 4, 2009, the Railroad Commission of Texas required all natural gas distribution pipe line operators to s ubmit leak reports every six months. Texas Administrative Code §8.210(e) requires all natural gas distribution pipeline operat ors to report leaks in accordance with the following specifications:

(e) Leak Reporting. For purposes of this subsection, the term "leak" includes all underground leaks, all haz ardous above ground leaks, and all non-hazardous above ground leaks that cannot be eliminat ed by lubrication, adjustment, or tightening. Each operator of a gas distri bution system, of a regulated plastic gas gathering line, or of a plastic gas transmi ssion line shall submit to the Division a list of all leaks repaired on its pipeline fac ilities. Each such operator shall list all leaks identified on all pipeline facilities. Ea ch such operator shall also include the number of unrepaired leaks remaining on th e operator's systems by leak grade. Each such operator shall submit leak reports using the Commission's online reporting system, Form PS-95, by July 15 and January 15 of each calendar year, in accordance with the PS-95 Semi-Annual Leak Report Electronic FilingRequirements, set out in the Figure in this subsection. The report submitted on July 15 shall include information from the previous January 1 through the previous June 30. The report submitt ed on January 15 shall include information from the previous July 1 through the prev ious December 31. The report includes: (1) Leak location; (2) Facility type; (3) Leak classification; (4) Pipe size; (5) Pipe type; (6) Leak cause; and (7) Leak repair method.

Additional State Rule Examples: AGA plans to provide more examples of state leak survey regulation requirements in our writte n comments to be filed on June 11, 2010 in

Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0923 on EPA’s M andatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases: Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems; Proposed Rule. Web links to several of these state regulations were also provided to EPA in previous email submissions in this

docket.

Web Links to Texas Rules:

Regulations for operators in Texas under the Texas Administrative Code are

available on the web: http://info.sos.state.tx.u s/pls/pub/readtac$ext.TacPage? sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p _tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=16&pt=1&ch=8&rl=210

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Distribution Annual Reporting Form (presumably to be updated to a 6-month format soon): http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMS A/DownloadableFiles/Files/GasDistrAnnualF orm_122005_Final_7100_1-1.pdf

Distribution Incide nt Reporting Form: http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMS A/DownloadableFiles/Gas__Distr%20Inciden

t%20Form%20-%20PHMSA%20 F%207100-1%20(01-2010).pdf