[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 72 (Friday, April 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22387-22389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-8960]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0024]


Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revision to 
Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Annual Report, Gas 
Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Incident Report, and 
Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Systems Accident Report

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), 
DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: PHMSA is preparing to request approval from the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for the revision of several forms in two 
currently approved information collections. PHMSA is looking at making 
several minor revisions to the hazardous liquid pipeline systems 
accident report and the gas transmission and gathering pipeline systems 
incident report. In addition, PHMSA is considering a number of 
revisions to the annual report form for gas transmission and gathering 
pipeline systems. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 
of 1995, PHMSA invites comments only on the proposed revisions to the 
forms.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
June 12, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted in the following ways:
    E-Gov Web Site: http://www.regulations.gov. This site allows the 
public to enter comments on any Federal Register notice issued by any 
agency.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation 
(DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the ground level of DOT, West 
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: Identify the docket number, PHMSA-2012-0024, at the 
beginning of your comments. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. You

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should know that anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). Therefore, you may 
want to review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or visit http://www.regulations.gov before submitting any such comments.
    Docket: For access to the docket or to read background documents or 
comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-
140 on the ground level of DOT, West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt 
of your written comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped 
postcard with the following statement: ``Comments on PHMSA-2012-0024.'' 
The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to returning it to 
you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays in the delivery 
of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we recommend that 
persons consider an alternative method (internet, fax, or professional 
delivery service) of submitting comments to the docket and ensuring 
their timely receipt at DOT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cameron Satterthwaite by telephone at 
202-366-1319, by fax at 202-366-4566, or by mail at DOT, PHMSA, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., PHP-30, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Section 1320.8(d), Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, requires 
PHMSA to provide interested members of the public and affected agencies 
an opportunity to comment on information collection requests. This 
notice identifies several changes to existing information collections 
that PHMSA will be submitting to OMB for approval.

B. Incident and Accident Report Revisions

    PHMSA is revising the gas transmission and gathering pipeline 
systems incident report (PHMSA F 7100.2, gas transmission incident 
report) and hazardous liquid pipeline systems accident report (PHMSA F 
7000-1, hazardous liquid accident report) to collect additional 
information relative to incidents involving girth welds. The revisions 
to these forms will allow for the reporting of detailed information 
regarding the pipe involved with the weld. This information includes 
basic information such as pipe size, diameter, and thickness. Several 
other minor changes are being made to align the form with the online 
system used to collect the reports from pipeline operators. The gas 
transmission incident report is approved under OMB control number 2137-
0522 and the hazardous liquid accident report is approved under OMB 
control number 2137-0047. PHMSA does not anticipate any change to the 
burden of the information collection due to the proposed revision of 
these forms.

C. Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Annual Report 
Revisions

    On September 26, 2011, the National Transportation Safety Board 
issued recommendations to PHMSA regarding improvements in pipeline 
safety. These recommendations include requiring that all gas 
transmission pipelines installed before 1970 be subjected to pressure 
testing, that manufacturing- and construction-related defects only be 
considered stable if a gas pipeline has been subjected to a post-
construction hydrostatic test of at least 1.25 times the maximum 
allowable operating pressure (MAOP), and that all gas transmission 
pipelines be able to accommodate in-line inspection tools. On January 
3, 2012, President Obama signed the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory 
Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 which requires that PHMSA:
    <bullet> Issue a regulation for the testing of previously untested 
gas transmission pipelines located in high consequence areas (HCAs) and 
operating at a pressure greater than 30 percent of specified minimum 
yield strength;
    <bullet> Require each owner or operator to verify that their 
records accurately reflect the physical and operational characteristics 
of their pipelines and associated facilities within Class 3 and 4 
locations and Class 1 and 2 HCAs; and
    <bullet> Require each owner or operator to identify and submit 
documentation relating to each pipeline segment for which records are 
insufficient to confirm the established MAOP.
    PHMSA intends to revise the gas transmission and gathering pipeline 
systems annual report (PHMSA F 7100.2-1, gas transmission annual 
report) to provide a mechanism for owners and operators to identify 
those segments of pipelines for which it is unable to verify the MAOP. 
For the purpose of reporting, ``verification records'' are records that 
can be used to validate the MAOP for the subject pipelines such as as-
built drawings, alignment sheets, specifications, and design, 
construction, inspection, testing, maintenance, manufacturer, or other 
related documents. These records should be traceable, verifiable, and 
complete. The purpose of this verification is to ensure that the 
records accurately reflect the physical and operational characteristics 
of the pipelines. In an upcoming Advisory Bulletin, PHMSA will inform 
operators of their responsibilities to verify that their records 
accurately reflect the physical and operational characteristics of 
their pipelines and associated facilities. In addition, the Advisory 
Bulletin will further clarify what PHMSA considers to be a 
``verifiable'' record.
    PHMSA also intends to revise the gas transmission annual report to 
collect other information related to the NTSB Recommendations and the 
recently signed legislation detailed above. In addition to the MAOP 
verification reporting, these revisions will allow for the collection 
of information regarding the methodology used to determine the MAOP of 
gas transmission pipelines, the total miles of pipelines which have not 
been subjected to a post-construction hydrostatic pressure test of at 
least 125% of the MAOP, and total miles of pipelines which are not able 
to accommodate the passage of instrumented internal inspection devices. 
PHMSA is also revising the gas transmission annual report to improve 
the granularity of the data, remove sections of limited value, collect 
data about anomalies removed from gas transmission pipeline systems, 
and make several minor changes to improve the quality of the data. 
Background for these topics is as follows:

    Pipeline Material Reporting by State: Pipeline mileage by 
material type was collected state-by-state prior to 2010. This data 
allowed PHMSA to determine the amounts and types of pipeline 
materials used in each state. The proposed change would restore this 
granularity which was lost during the 2010 revision to the gas 
transmission annual report. Parts D and E of the gas transmission 
annual report are used to collect information regarding pipeline 
material type. PHMSA proposes to collect this information in the 
state-specific section of the report and to combine Parts D and E of 
the report into a single table. This change will not impact the 
burden of the information collection.
    Additional Commodities: In the current gas transmission annual 
report, operators have the ability to report ``other'' as the 
commodity transported and then enter text describing the commodity. 
Based on a review of 2010 data, many operators submitted text 
equivalent to landfill gas to describe the ``other'' commodity. 
PHMSA proposes to add landfill gas as a commodity choice to reduce

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the mileage reported under the ``other'' category. This change will 
not impact the burden of the information collection.
    Additional Material Type: PHMSA recognizes that composite pipe 
materials are currently being used, or considered for use, by the 
pipeline industry. Outside of reinforced thermosetting plastic, in 
certain and limited use, composite pipe can only be used if PHMSA 
issues a special permit. In an effort to determine the amount of 
composite pipe currently in use, PHMSA proposes to add ``composite 
pipe'' as a material type to Parts D and N of the gas transmission 
annual report. This change will not impact the burden of the 
information collection.
    Removal of Sections A6 and A8: Section A6 in the gas 
transmission annual report allows each submitter to characterize the 
facilities covered by their Operator Identification (OPID) and 
commodity group with respect to whether they are included in an 
integrity management program subject to 49 CFR part 192. Section A8 
allowed submitters to identify whether or not there were any changes 
from the previous year's filing. PHMSA has determined that these 
sections provide limited value to all stakeholders and should be 
removed. This change will not impact the burden of the information 
collection.
    Anomalies Removed from Gas Transmission Systems: The gas 
transmission annual report currently collects information about the 
number of anomalies repaired in response to integrity assessments. 
During data quality checks of the 2010 data, PHMSA learned that many 
anomalies are eliminated from gas transmission systems by pipe 
replacement or abandonment. This data helps to demonstrate the 
benefits of integrity management programs. Therefore, PHMSA proposes 
to revise the gas transmission annual report to collect the number 
of anomalous conditions eliminated by pipe replacement and 
abandonment in Part F of the report.

PHMSA estimates that these revisions will add a burden of two hours per 
response to the gas transmission annual report. PHMSA receives 
approximately 1,440 gas transmission annual reports each year. 
Therefore, PHMSA estimates the burden of the information collection to 
increase by a total of 2,880 hours (1,440 reports x 2 hours). A copy of 
the revised report has been placed in the docket and is available for 
comment.

D. Information Collection Focus

    PHMSA is only requesting approval of the information collection 
changes addressed in this notice. The information collection for 
hazardous liquid accident reports (OMB control number 2137-0047) is 
scheduled to expire December 31, 2013, and the information collection 
that covers gas transmission annual reports and incident reports (OMB 
control number 2137-0522) is scheduled to expire January 31, 2014. In 
2013, PHMSA will solicit comments on all aspects of these information 
collections, including the forms, in accordance with the standard PRA 
renewal process.

E. Summary of Impacted Collections

    The following information is provided for each information 
collection: (1) Title of the information collection; (2) OMB control 
number; (3) Current expiration date; (4) Type of request; (5) Abstract 
of the information collection activity; (6) Description of affected 
public; (7) Estimate of total annual reporting and recordkeeping 
burden; and (8) Frequency of collection. PHMSA is only focusing on the 
revisions detailed in this notice and will request revisions to the 
following information collection activities. PHMSA requests comments on 
the following information collections:
    1. Title: Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.
    OMB Control Number: 2137-0522.
    Current Expiration Date: 1/31/2014.
    Type of Request: Revision.
    Abstract: PHMSA is looking to revise the gas transmission annual 
report (PHMSA F 7100.2-1) to collect additional information in response 
to recent NTSB recommendations and legislation. In addition, PHMSA is 
revising the gas transmission incident report form (PHMSA F 7100.2) to 
allow for the submission of additional information regarding the pipe 
in relation to girth weld failures.
    Affected Public: Gas transmission/gathering pipeline operators.
    Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
    Total Annual Responses: 21,864.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 80,264 (increase of 2,880).
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    2. Title: Transportation of Hazardous Liquids by Pipeline: 
Recordkeeping and Accident Reporting.
    OMB Control Number: 2137-0047.
    Current Expiration Date: 12/31/2013.
    Type of Request: Revision.
    Abstract: PHMSA is looking to revise the hazardous liquid incident 
report form (PHMSA F 7000-1) to allow for the submission of additional 
information regarding the pipe in relation to girth weld failures.
    Affected Public: Hazardous liquid pipeline operators.
    Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
    Total Annual Responses: 847.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 51,329.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Comments are invited on:
    (a) The need for the proposed collection of information for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information will have practical utility;
    (b) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques.

    Issued in Washington, DC on April 10, 2012.
Linda Daugherty,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy and Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012-8960 Filed 4-12-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P