An Act Regarding Gas Utilities under the Safety Jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0908
Committee Amendment CA_A_H298 (House)
Amends: 35-A MRSA §4702-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 667, L.D. 908, Bill, "An Act 
Regarding Gas Utilities under the Safety Jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and before the summary and 
inserting the following: 
'Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, it is crucial to immediately establish a new framework for safety 
regulation of certain gas utilities that is not overly burdensome but adequately protects 
public safety; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 35-A MRS A §4702, as repealed and replaced by PL 1999, c. 718, §15, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §4702-A is enacted to read: 
§4702-A. Safety jurisdiction only over certain gas utilities 
The commission may regulate certain gas utilities in accordance with this section as 
an agent of the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous 
Materials Safety Administration pursuant to 49 United States Code, Section 60105. 
1. Jurisdiction. A gas utility owning, controlling, operating or managing a central 
tank system or a liquefied petroleum gas system is subject to the jurisdiction of the 
commission solely with respect to safety if that system serves: 
A. Ten or more customers; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "4,, to H.P. 667, L.D. 908 
B. More than one customer and any portion of the central tank: system or liquefied 
petroleum gas system is located in a public place; or 
C. One customer and a portion of the central tank system or liquefied petroleum gas 
system is located off the customer's premises in a public place. 
In regulating gas utilities under this section, the commission may not intemret "public 
place" to include a motel room, hotel room, rented cottage or other rented or leased living 
space unless the commission receives written notice from the United States Department 
of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration that this 
exclusion is incompatible with the administration's intemretation of 49 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Section 192.1 and the commission by rule establishes a definition of "public 
place" consistent with that written notice. Rules adopted under this subsection are major 
substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
2. 
Limitations; liquefied petroleum gas systems. 
Regulation of liquefied 
petroleum gas systems under this section is governed by this subsection. As used in this 
subsection, unless the context otherwise indicates, "jurisdictional system" means a 
liquefied petroleum gas system subject to the jurisdiction of the United States Department 
of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration under 49 Code 
of Federal Regulations, Section 192.1, and "operator" means the operator of a 
jurisdictional system. 
A. The commission may regulate liquefied petroleum gas systems only to the extent 
the system is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States Department of 
Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration under 49 
Code of Federal Regulations, Section 192.1. 
B. The commission shall regulate jurisdictional systems and operators under this 
section in accordance with the minimum standards established by the United States 
Department 
of Transportation 
Pipeline 
and 
Hazardous 
Materials 
Safety 
Administration as adopted by reference by the commission by rule. Rules adopting 
by reference the minimum standards established by the United States Department of 
Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration are routine 
technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
C. 
The commission may not adopt or enforce any rule governing jurisdictional 
systems or operators, including but not limited to rules establishing definitions or 
standards, except as specifically authorized in this paragraph, paragraph B or 
subsection 1. The commission may by rule: 
(1) Identify and certify operators; 
(2) Require jurisdictional systems to be registered with the commission. The 
commission may not impose an administrative penalty under section 1508-A that 
exceeds $5,000 for failure to register a jurisdictional system; 
(3) Prohibit delivery of liquefied petroleum gas to a customer if an operator has 
determined that piping or other equipment owned by the customer makes 
continued delivery unsafe. Nothing in this subparagraph permits the commission 
to require an operator to inspect, maintain or otherwise oversee customer-owned 
piping or other equipment; 
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COMMITIEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 667, L.D. 908 
(4) 
Require operators to participate in the underground facility damage 
prevention system established under Title 23, section 3360-A; 
(5) Define "combustible material"; 
(6) Establish reasonable requirements for operators to keep on file maps or 
drawings of jurisdictional systems; 
(7) Establish reasonable standards for the protection of jurisdictional systems 
from reasonably foreseeable damages that may be caused by motorized vehicles 
or snow, ice or other weather-related conditions; 
(8) Establish reasonable requirements for the installation of warning tape and 
tracer wires on plastic pipes installed by operators; 
(9) Establish reasonable requirements for operators to mark containers owned by 
the operators and located on customer property; 
(10) 
Establish reasonable requirements for the use of directional boring by 
operators for the installation of piping for jurisdictional systems; 
(II) Establish reasonable odor verification requirements for liquefied petroleum 
gas delivered to customers by operators; and 
(12) 
Establish enforcement procedures. 
The enforcement procedures must 
provide for informal disposition of possible violations, including procedures that 
allow a person to correct a violation without penalty, informal conferences to 
resolve disputes about violations, consent agreements to resolve enforcement 
actions and other means of avoiding adjudicatory proceedings and the imposition 
of administrative penalties when informal means of enforcement are adequate to 
ensure public safety. 
Rules adopted under this paragraph are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
D. In applying the atmospheric corrosion control standards established by the United 
States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration to liquefied petroleum gas systems, the commission shall consider 
atmospheric corrosion to be a condition exhibiting signs of deterioration, including 
pitting or loss of metal. The commission may not consider surface rust or loss of 
paint coating to constitute atmospheric corrosion. 
Sec. 3. 35-A MRS A §4710, first ~, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 605, §2 and 
affected by §3, is amended to read: 
Subject to the provisions of this section, a natural gas utility may take and hold by 
right of eminent domain lands or rights in lands necessary to the safe, economical and 
efficient operation of a pipeline and to the provision of adequate service to the public. 
For purposes of this section, the term "natural gas utility" means an intrastate natural gas 
pipeline utility or a gas utility other than a gas utility over which the commission's 
jurisdiction is limited pursuant to section 4m 4702-A. 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT '/1 "to H.P. 667, L.D. 908 
Sec. 4. Regulatory reform; regulation of gas safety. Until rules have been 
adopted by the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
35-A, section 4702-A, the commission shall enforce the minimum standards established 
by the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 
Safety Administration under 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 191, 192 and 199 as 
in effect on the effective date of this Act. 
The commission may not enforce rules adopted by the commission governing the 
safety and operation standards for liquefied petroleum gas systems existing on the 
effective date of this Act. 
Until rules establishing specific enforcement procedures have been adopted by the 
commission pursuant to Title 35-A, section 4702-A, the commission shall use its 
discretion to informally resolve violations of standards established by the United States 
Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 
and to avoid imposing administrative penalties under Title 35-A, section 1508-A to the 
extent consistent with the commission's responsibility to ensure adequate public safety. 
The commission shall examine in consultation with operators of liquefied petroleum 
gas systems what rules may be appropriate to implement Title 35-A, section 4702-A. 
Consistent with the results of its examination, the commission shall conduct a 
rule-making proceeding to provisionally adopt rules to implement Title 35-A, section 
4702-A and shall submit those rules for legislative review by January 15,2012. 
The commission shall work with the Maine Energy Marketers Association to develop 
a written request for the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to provide a written interpretation of whether 
certain liquefied petroleum gas systems come within the scope of 49 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Section 192.1. 
The commission shall submit to the United States 
Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 
any jointly agreed upon request. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill and establishes parameters for the Public Utilities 
Commission's safety regulation of liquefied petroleum gas systems. This amendment: 
1. Authorizes the commission to regulate such systems as an agent of the United 
States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration and only to the extent the system is subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration; 
2. 
Prohibits the commission, in determining whether a system is subject to 
regulation, from determining a "public place" to include a motel room, hotel room, rented 
cottage or other rented or leased living space unless the commission receives written 
notice from the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous 
Materials Safety Administration that this exclusion is 
incompatible with the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMlTIEE AMENDMENT 'A" to H.P. 667, L.D. 90' 
administration's interpretation of 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 192.1 and the 
commission by major substantive rule establishes a definition of "public place" consistent 
with that written notice; 
3. 
Requires the commission to regulate such systems in accordance with the 
minimum standards of the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, but allows the commission to regulate 
certain specific additional safety issues through major substantive rules; 
4. Requires the commission, in applying the atmospheric corrosion control standards 
established by the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous 
Materials Safety Administration, to consider atmospheric corrosion to be a condition 
exhibiting signs of deterioration, including pitting or loss of metal. The commission may 
not consider surface rust or loss of paint coating to constitute atmospheric corrosion; 
5. 
Provides that the commission may not continue to enforce its existing rules 
governing the safety and operation standards for liquefied petroleum gas systems but 
must conduct an examination in consultation with operators of liquefied petroleum gas 
systems of what rules, beyond the federal minimum standards, may be appropriate to 
implement the new requirements of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 
4702-A. Consistent with the results of its examination, the commission is required to. 
conduct a rule-making proceeding to provisionally adopt rules to implement Title 35-A, 
section 4702-A and to submit those rules for legislative review by January 15, 2012; 
6. Directs the commission to work with the Maine Energy Marketers Association to 
develop a request to the United States Department of Transportation Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for a written interpretation of whether certain 
liquefied petroleum gas systems come within the scope of 49 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Section 192.1. 
The request must be cooperatively developed and the 
questions presented agreed to jointly; and 
7. Adds an emergency preamble and emergency clause to the bill. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/03111 frac 
LD908 
LR 767(02) 
An Act Regarding Gas Utilities under the Safety Jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission 
Fiscal Note for BiD as Amended by Committee Amendment ·R· 
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Establishing new parameters for safety regulation by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regarding liquefied 
petroleum gas distribution systems and requiring related rulemaking will result in minor additional costs to the PUC 
which can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR0767(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1