Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 126 - PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION › Division 03 - Utilities Section › Rule 126.03.07-002 - Arkansas Gas Pipeline Code

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
PREFACE
ARKANSAS GAS PIPELINE CODE
On August 12, 1968, the United States Congress passed Public
				Law 90-481, better known as the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968. This
				Act authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to administer this law, develop
				standards and to regulate enforcement of such standards for the design,
				installation, inspection, testing, construction, extension, operation,
				replacement and maintenance of pipeline facilities. Enacted on July 5, 1994,
				Public
				Law 103-272 revised, codified, and enacted the
				provisions of the Act without substantive change as Chapter 601 of Title 49,
				United States Code. Title
				49 U.S.C
				60105 authorizes a state to regulate these
				minimum standards under certification to the Secretary of Transportation,
				providing certain provisions are met by each state.
On March 15, 1971, the State Legislature of Arkansas enacted
				Act 285 into law. This Act, known as the Arkansas Natural Gas Pipeline Safety
				Act of 1971, authorized the Arkansas Public Service Commission to administer a
				state program pertaining to the design, installation, inspection, testing,
				construction, extension, operation, replacement and maintenance of pipeline
				facilities used to transport natural gas. The Pipeline Safety Office was
				established and tasked with the responsibility of developing and implementing
				this program. Act 285 is far reaching and affects directly or indirectly
				persons who distribute or use natural gas.
As long as natural gas flows through a closed controlled
				system, it remains an efficient, inexpensive and safe servant. However, when it
				escapes from its pipes, gas can turn on man violently and quickly. In passing
				the Arkansas Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act, the Arkansas Legislature intended
				to provide laws and standards which assured that these systems would continue
				to be operated in a safe manner and thereby reduce the possibility of gas
				escaping from its closed system. The objective of the pipeline safety program
				within Arkansas is to keep the gas confined to a closed, controlled system.
				This is best accomplished by requiring gas companies, operators of gas systems
				and all persons who install natural gas pipelines to install and maintain them,
				using only authorized materials and procedures and to comply with standards
				designed to ensure continuing quality of operation and maintenance.
These procedures and standards adopted by the Arkansas Public
				Service Commission, as authorized by Act 285, are known as the Arkansas Gas
				Pipeline Code. This Code is a mandatory requirement under state law and
				non-compliance by any person(s) engaging in the transportation of gas or who
				owns or operates pipeline facilities, is subject to a civil penalty, not to
				exceed $25,000 for each violation for each day that such violation persists,
				except that the maximum civil penalty shall not exceed $500,000 for any related
				series of violations. The law also provides authority for the Commission to
				file suit to restrain violations of the Code, including the restraint of
				transportation of gas or the operation of a pipeline facility.
The Arkansas Gas Pipeline Code is comprised of Parts 190,
				Enforcement Procedures; 191, Annual and Incident Reports; 192, Minimum Safety
				Standards; and 199, Drug and Alcohol Testing. The paragraphs in Parts 191, 192,
				and 199 correspond to the paragraph numbers of Parts 191, 192, and 199 of Title
				49, Code of Federal Regulations, Minimum Federal Safety Standards.
DEFINITIONS
DEFINITIONS OF WORDS/PHRASES USED IN THE ARKANSAS GAS PIPELINE
				CODE
"Abandoned"
means permanently removed from
				service.
"Administrator"
means the Administrator of the
				Research and Special Programs Administration or any person to whom authority in
				the matter concerned has been delegated by the U.S. Secretary of
				Transportation.
"Business District"
means a location where gas
				mains are utilized to serve customers that are predominately commercial in
				nature, and where the street and/or sidewalk paving generally extends from the
				centerline of a thoroughfare to the established building line on either
				side.
"Change"
to a segment of pipeline means a physical
				change in the pipeline or significant changes in operating pressure.
"Commission"
means Arkansas Public Service
				Commission or any person whom the Commission has delegated authority in the
				matter concerned.
"Customer"
meter means the meter that measures the
				transfer of gas from an operator to a consumer.
"Distribution Line"
means a pipeline other than a
				gathering or transmission line.
"Gas"
means natural, manufactured, liquefied
				natural, flammable gas or gas which is toxic or corrosive.
"Gathering Line"
means a pipeline that transports
				gas from a current production facility to a transmission line or main.
"High Pressure Distribution System"
means a
				distribution system in which the gas pressure in the main is higher than the
				pressure provided to the customer.
"Key Valves"
means shut off valves in a
				distribution system or transmission line which may be necessary to isolate
				segments of a system or line for emergency purposes.
"Line Section"
means a continuous run of
				transmission line between adjacent compressor stations, between a compressor
				station and storage facilities, between a compressor station and a block valve,
				or between adjacent block valves.
"Listed Specification"
means a specification listed
				in Section 1 of Appendix B.
"Low-Pressure Distribution System"
means a
				distribution system in which the gas pressure in the main is substantially the
				same as the pressure provided to the customer.
"Main"
means a distribution line that serves as a
				common source of supply for more than one service line.
"Master Meter System
" means a pipeline system for
				distributing gas within, but not limited to, a definable area, such as a mobile
				home park, housing project, or apartment complex, where the operator purchases
				metered gas from an outside source for resale through a gas distribution
				pipeline system. The gas distribution pipeline system supplies the ultimate
				consumer who either purchases the gas directly through a meter or by other
				means, such as rents.
"Maximum Actual Operating Pressure"
means the
				maximum pressure that occurs during normal operations over a period of one
				year.
"Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure (MAOP)"
means
				the maximum pressure at which a pipeline or segment of a pipeline may be
				operated under this code.
"Mobile Home Park"
means two or more mobile homes
				located on a contiguous tract of land.
"Municipality"
means a city, county or any other
				political subdivision of the State of Arkansas.
"Operator"
means a person who:
(1) Engages in the transportation of gas;
			 or
(2) Operates a distribution
			 system within a mobile home park, public housing authority, or multiple
			 building complex. The system is not owned, nor the responsibility of a public
			 or municipal utility, and is used to transport gas from a master meter or a
			 public/municipal utility main to consumers who may or may not be metered. Gas
			 is not consumed solely by the owner/operator.
"Person"
means any individual, firm, joint venture,
				partnership, corporation, association, State, municipality, cooperative
				association, or joint stock association, and includes any trustee, receiver,
				assignee, or personal representative thereof.
"Petroleum Gas"
means propane, propylene, butane
				(normal butane or isobutanes), and butylene (including isomers), or mixtures
				composed predominantly of these gases, having a vapor pressure not exceeding
				208 psig (1434 kPa) gage at 100°F (38°C).
"Pipe"
means any pipe or tubing used in the
				transportation of gas, including pipe-type holders.
"Pipeline" or "Pipeline System"
means all parts of
				those physical facilities through which gas moves in transportation, including,
				but not limited to, pipe, valves and other appurtenance attached to pipe,
				compressor units, metering stations, regulator stations, delivery stations,
				holders, and fabricated assemblies.
"Pipeline Facilities"
includes without limitation,
				new and existing pipe, pipe rights-of-way, and any equipment, facility or
				building used in the transportation of gas or the treatment of gas during the
				course of transportation, including any facility that removes hydrogen sulfide
				from gas.
"Service Line"
means a distribution line that
				transports gas from a common source of supply to an individual customer, to two
				adjacent or adjoining residential or small commercial customers, or to multiple
				residential or small commercial customers served through a meter header or
				manifold. A service line ends at the outlet of the customer meter or at the
				connection to a customer's piping, whichever is further downstream, or at the
				connection to customer piping if there is no meter.
"Service Regulator"
means the device on a service
				line that controls the pressure of gas delivered from a higher pressure to the
				pressure provided to the customer. A service regulator may serve one customer
				or multiple customers through a meter header or manifold.
"SMYS"
means specified minimum yield strength, and
				is:
(1) For steel pipe manufactured in
			 accordance with a listed specification, the yield strength specified as a
			 minimum in that specification; or
(2) For steel pipe manufactured in accordance
			 with an unknown or unlisted specification, the yield strength determined in
			 accordance with paragraph 192.107(b).
"System"
means all pipeline facilities used by a
				particular operator in the transportation of gas, including, but not limited to
				line pipe, valves and other appurtenances connected to line pipe, compressor
				units, fabricated assemblies associated with compressor units, metering
				(including customers' meters) and delivery stations, and fabricated assemblies
				in metering and delivery stations.
"Test Failure"
means a break or rupture that occurs
				during strength proof testing of transmission or gathering lines that are of
				such magnitude as to require repair before continuation of the test.
"Transmission Line"
means a pipeline other than a
				gathering line that:
(1) Transports
			 gas from a gathering line or storage facility to a distribution center, storage
			 facility, or large volume customer that is not downstream from a distribution
			 center. A large volume customer may receive similar volumes of gas as a
			 distribution center, and includes factories, power plants, and institutional
			 users of gas.
(2) Operates at a
			 hoop stress of 20 percent or more of SMYS; or
(3) Transports gas within a storage
			 field.
"Transportation of Gas"
means the gathering,
				transmission or distribution of gas by pipeline or the storage of gas in or
				affecting interstate, intrastate, or foreign commerce.
PART 190
PIPELINE SAFETY ENFORCEMENT
			 PROCEDURES
SUBPART A
GENERAL
190.1
Purpose.
This part prescribes procedures utilized by the Arkansas Public
				Service Commission in carrying out its responsibilities regarding pipeline
				safety under the Arkansas Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1971 (Act 285 of
				1971, as amended; Ark. Code Ann. '
				23-15-201 -
				23-15-216 ).
				Any conflict between the Commission's Rules and Regulations and the Arkansas
				Statutes shall be resolved in favor of the statutes.
190.3
Service.
Each show cause order issued under this part shall be served in
				accordance with the current provisions of the Commission's Rules of Practice
				and Procedure and Ark. Code Ann. '
				23-2-405.
190.5
Subpoenas, Witness
			 Fees.
The issuance of subpoenas and payment of Witness fees shall be
				in accordance with the current provisions of the Commission's Rules of Practice
				and Procedure and Ark. Code Ann. '
				23-2-402
				and '
				23-2-414.
190.7
Extension of
			 Time.
In those instances when the actions necessary to correct
				documented deficiencies will exceed the time limit given in the notice of
				probable violation, an operator may request an extension of time in order to
				effect compliance. Each request must detail the reason(s) why compliance cannot
				be accomplished by the original suspense date, and the date the operator
				believes the necessary compliance actions can be completed. If the Commission
				finds the request to be reasonable a new suspense date may be
				established.
190.9
Petitions for Finding or Approval.
(a) In circumstances where a rule contained
			 in Part 192 authorizes the Administrator to make a finding or approval, an
			 operator may petition the Administrator for such a finding or
			 approval.
(b) Each petition must
			 refer to the rule authorizing the action sought and contain information or
			 arguments that justify the action. Unless otherwise specified, no public
			 proceeding is held on a petition before it is granted or denied. After a
			 petition is received, the Administrator or participating state agency notifies
			 the petitioner of the disposition of the petition or, if the request requires
			 more extensive consideration or additional information or comments are
			 requested and delay is expected, of the date by which action will be taken. For
			 operators seeking a finding or approval involving intrastate pipeline
			 transportation, petitions must be sent to: Pipeline Safety, Arkansas Public
			 Service Commission, P.O. Box 400, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-0400.
(c) All petitions must be received at least
			 90 days prior to the date by which the operator requests the finding or
			 approval to be made.
(d) The
			 Administrator will make all findings or approvals of petitions initiated under
			 this section. Pipeline Safety, Arkansas Public Service Commission, upon
			 receiving petitions initiated under this paragraph, shall provide the
			 Administrator a written recommendation as to the disposition of any petition
			 received by Pipeline Safety. Where the Administrator does not reverse or modify
			 a recommendation made by Pipeline Safety within 10 business days of its
			 receipt, the recommended disposition shall constitute the Administrator's
			 decision on the petition.
190.11
Waivers
.
If unusual difficulty results from implementing a safety
				standard in Part 192, application may be made to the Commission for exemption
				from a particular standard. The application for exemption hall be accompanied
				by a thorough justification for requested actions.