[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 172 (Thursday, September 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51697-51698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20440]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2008-0211]


Information Collection Activities

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) invites 
comments on its intention to revise forms PHMSA F 7100.2--Incident 
Report For Gas Transmission and Gathering Systems; PHMSA F 7100.1--
Incident Report for Gas Distribution Systems; and PHMSA F 7000-1--
Accident Report for Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Systems, and its 
intention to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for revised information collection burdens.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit comments on or before 
November 3, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the docket number 
PHMSA-2008-0211 by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    <bullet> Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    <bullet> Mail: Docket Management System, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery: Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 
20590, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or Regulation Identification Number (RIN) for this 
notice. Internet users may access comments received by DOT at: http://www.regulations.gov. Note that comments received will be posted without 
change to: http://www.regulations.gov including any personal 
information provided.
    Requests for a copy of an information collection should be directed 
to Roger Little by telephone at 202-366-4569, by fax at 202-366-4566, 
or by mail at U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous 
Materials Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., PHP-10, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roger Little by telephone at 202-366-
4569, by fax at 202-366-4566, or by mail at U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., PHP-10, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 and recordkeeping requests. This notice identifies revised 
information collection requests that PHMSA will be submitting to OMB 
for renewal and extension. The information collected pertaining to 
reportable natural gas transmission incidents provides an important 
tool for identifying safety trends in the gas pipeline industry. The 
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) have urged PHMSA to revise the information 
collected on the natural gas pipeline operator incident and hazardous 
liquid pipeline operator accident report forms. NTSB Safety 
Recommendation P-05-04 recommends that PHMSA take action to change the 
liquid accident reporting form (PHMSA F 7000-1) and require operators 
to provide data related to controller fatigue. Additionally, section 20 
of the Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement, and Safety Act of 
2006 (PIPES Act) requires PHMSA to ``amend accident reporting forms to 
require operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines to provide data 
related to controller fatigue.'' GAO recommended in its report, GAO-06-
946 titled ``Integrity Management Benefits Public Safety, but 
Consistency of Performance Measures Should Be Improved'' that ``To 
improve the consistency and usefulness of the integrity management 
performance measures, we are recommending that the Secretary of 
Transportation direct the Administrator for the Pipeline and Hazardous 
Materials Safety Administration to take the following two actions:
    (1) Revising the definition of a reportable incident to consider 
changes in the price of natural gas; and
    (2) Establish consistent categories of causes for incidents and 
leaks on all gas pipeline reports.'' Recommendation number (1) is to be 
addressed by a future rulemaking and recommendation number (2) is 
addressed through improvements in incident forms addressed through this 
information collection request (ICR).
    PHMSA consulted industry and trade association representatives of 
the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the American Gas 
Association, the American Petroleum Institute, and state pipeline 
safety office representatives through the National Association of 
Pipeline Safety Representatives, in considering revisions to the 
natural gas pipeline operator incident and hazardous liquid pipeline 
operator accident report forms to make the information collected more 
useful to industry, government, and the public.
    PHMSA has revised burden estimates, where appropriate, to reflect 
revisions to the accident and incident reporting forms since the 
information collections were last approved. The following information 
is provided for each information collection: (1) Abstract for affected 
accident and incident reporting forms; (2) title of the information 
collection; (3) OMB control number; (4) affected accident or incident 
form; (5) description of affected public; (6) estimate of total annual 
reporting and recordkeeping burden; and (7) frequency of collection. 
PHMSA will request a three-year term of approval for each information 
collection activity and,

[[Page 51698]]

when approved by OMB, publish notice of the approval in the Federal 
Register.
    PHMSA requests comments on the following information collections:
    Abstract: To ensure adequate public protection from exposure to 
potential natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline failures, PHMSA 
collects information on reportable natural gas pipeline incidents and 
hazardous liquid pipeline accidents. Additional information is also 
obtained concerning the characteristics of an operator's pipeline 
system. This information is needed for normalizing the incident 
information in order to provide for adequate safety trending. The 
requirements for reporting natural gas incidents are found in 49 CFR 
Part 191 and for reporting hazardous liquid pipeline accidents are 
found in 49 CFR Part 195. The regulations require submission of these 
reports within 30 days of the incident or accident occurrence. The 
information is used to assist Federal and state pipeline safety 
programs for accident trending and by industry, trade associations and 
other interested stakeholders, and to provide a background for accident 
investigations.
    Title: Transportation of Hazardous Liquids by Pipeline: 
Recordkeeping and Accident Reporting.
    OMB Control Number: 2137-0047.
    Form: Accident Report--Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Systems (Form No. 
PHMSA-7000-1).
    Affected Public: Hazardous liquid pipeline operators.
    Recordkeeping:
    Number of Respondents: 200.
    Total Annual Responses: 130 long form, 200 short form.
    Long form is for spills of five or more barrels; short form is for 
spills of 5 gallons to less than 5 barrels.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 1332.
    Frequency of collection:
    Short form: 200 reports/200 operators per year = 1 short form per 
operator annually;
    130 reports/200 operators per year = .65 long forms per operator 
annually.
    Title: Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.
    OMB Control Number: 2137-0522.
    Form: Incident Report--Gas Distribution System (Form PHMSA F 
7100.1).
    Affected Public: Natural gas distribution pipeline operators.
    Recordkeeping:
    Number of Respondents: 1200.
    Total Annual Responses: 155.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 1210.
    Frequency of collection: 155 incidents per year /1200 operators = 
0.14.
    Title: Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.
    OMB Control Number: 2137-0522.
    Form: Incident Report--Gas Transmission and Gathering Systems (Form 
PHMSA F 7100.2).
    Affected Public: Natural gas transmission pipeline operators.
    Recordkeeping:
    Number of Respondents: 900.
    Total Annual Responses: 153.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,102.
    Frequency of collection: 153 incidents per year/900 operators = 
0.17.
    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 August 28, 2008.
Joy O. Kadnar,
Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
 [FR Doc. E8-20440 Filed 9-3-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P