Document ID: PHMSA-2023-0080-0002
Agency: phmsa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Pipeline Safety: Mifflin Energy Corporation's Petition for Declaratory Order Concerning Part 192 Jurisdiction and Operator Responsibility over Customer-Owned Piping
Posted Date: 2023-11-09T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 216 (Thursday, November 9, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77244-77245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24718]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 192

[Docket No. PHMSA-2023-0080]

Pipeline Safety: Mifflin Energy Corporation's Petition for 
Declaratory Order Concerning Part 192 Jurisdiction and Operator 
Responsibility Over Customer-Owned Piping

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), 
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Petition for a Declaratory Order.

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SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is 
seeking comment on a Petition for a Declaratory Order (Petition).

DATES: Comments are due on or before December 11, 2023. Reply comments 
to comments received are due on or before December 26, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments should reference the docket number for the petition 
request and may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Web: https://www.regulations.gov. This site allows the 
public to enter comments on any Federal Register document issued by any 
agency. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building: Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, West Building: Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-
0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.
     Instructions: Identify [Docket No. PHMSA-2023-0080] at the 
beginning of your comments. If you submit your comments by mail, submit 
two copies. Internet users may submit comments at https://www.regulations.gov. If you would like confirmation that PHMSA received 
your comments, please include a self-addressed stamped postcard labeled 
``Comments on PHMSA-2023-0080.'' The docket clerk will date stamp the 
postcard prior to returning it to you via U.S. mail.
     Note: All comments received will be posted without edits 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading for more information. 
Anyone can use the site to search all comments by the name of the 
submitting individual or, if the comment was submitted on behalf of an 
association, business, labor union, etc., the name of the signing 
individual. Therefore, please review the complete DOT Privacy Act 
Statement in the Federal Register at 65 FR 19477 or the Privacy Notice 
at https://www.regulations.gov before submitting comments.
     Privacy Act Statement: DOT may solicit comments from the 
public regarding certain general notices. DOT posts these comments 
without edit, including any personal information the commenter 
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records 
notice (DOT/ALL- 14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.
     Confidential Business Information: Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both 
customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the 
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public 
disclosure. If your comments in response to this document contain 
commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as 
private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or 
responsive to this document it is important that you clearly designate 
the submitted comments as CBI. Pursuant to 49 CFR 190.343, you may ask 
PHMSA to provide confidential treatment to information you give to the 
Agency by taking the following steps: (1) mark each page of the 
original document submission containing CBI as ``Confidential;'' (2) 
send PHMSA a copy of the original document with the CBI deleted along 
with the original, unaltered document; and (3) explain why the 
information you are submitting is CBI. Submissions containing CBI 
should be sent to Tewabe Asebe, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Submission containing 
CBI can also be emailed to Tewabe Asebe by encrypted email at 
[email protected]. Any commentary PHMSA receives that is not 
specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket.
     Docket: For access to the docket or to read background 
documents or comments, go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
online instructions for accessing the dockets. Alternatively, this 
information is available by visiting DOT at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
West Building: Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 9:00 
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tewabe Asebe, Office of Pipeline 
Safety, by phone at 202-366-5523 or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PHMSA is evaluating a Petition for a 
Declaratory Order (Petition) from Mifflin Energy Corporation (Mifflin), 
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 60117(b)(1)(J).
    Mifflin operated a production line in Greene County, Pennsylvania, 
which was subject to a free gas arrangement. Under the arrangement, gas 
flowed from Mifflin's production line through a pipeline owned by the 
landowner, with the regulator and meter placed at the juncture of the 
production line and the customer-owned pipeline. In March 2020, with 
Mifflin's consent, the landowner moved the regulator and the meter 
downstream of the juncture, further down the landowner's pipeline.

[[Page 77245]]

On April 9, 2020, a failure occurred on the landowner's piping, causing 
damage to a nearby residential structure.
    On January 29, 2021, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's 
(PAPUC) Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement (BI&E) requested an 
interpretation of 49 CFR part 192 as it concerned the facts of this 
incident. On September 21, 2021, OPS issued an interpretation in 
response to BI&E's inquiry.\1\ The 2021 Interpretation stated that the 
piping between Mifflin's production line and the landowner's meter was 
a service line under Sec.  192.3; the lease agreement did not have an 
impact on whether the pipe was a service line; and Mifflin was an 
``operator'' within the meaning of Sec.  192.3.
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    \1\ PHMSA, Interp. No. PI-21-0003, In re Pennsylvania Public 
Utility Commission, (Sept. 1, 2021) (the ``2021 Interpretation'').
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    On March 20, 2023, Mifflin filed a Petition with PHMSA requesting 
PHMSA issue an order declaring that, under a free gas arrangement, 
customer-owned piping upstream of a meter is not subject to 49 CFR part 
192, and that a production line operator is not responsible for 
ensuring compliance with part 192 on customer piping. The Petition also 
requested that PHMSA rescind its 2021 Interpretation issued to BI&E. 
The Petition is available for review in the docket for this proceeding.
    Before issuing a final decision on the Petition, PHMSA will 
evaluate all comments received on or before the comment closing date. 
Comments received after the closing date will be evaluated if it is 
possible to do so without incurring additional expense or delay. PHMSA 
will consider each relevant comment received in issuing its final 
decision and order, which will be published in the Federal Register and 
posted to PHMSA's website.
    PHMSA notes this is the first time a person has petitioned for 
issuance of a declaratory order under authority granted to PHMSA by the 
PIPES Act of 2020. See Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and 
Enhancing Safety Act of 2020, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, 
Division R, Public Law 116-260, section 108(a), 134 Stat. 1181, 2221, 
2223; 49 U.S.C. 60117(b)(1)(J). PHMSA is committed to including an 
opportunity for public comment in circumstances in which it exercises 
its authority to issue a declaratory order.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 3, 2023, under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
Alan K. Mayberry,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2023-24718 Filed 11-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P