Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Part XIII - Office of Conservation-Pipeline Safety › Subpart 3 - Transportation of Natural Gas or Other Gas by Pipeline: Minimum Safety Standards [49 CFR Part 192] › Chapter 27 - Operations [49 CFR Part 192 Subpart L] › Section XIII-2736 - Transmission Lines: Response to a Rupture; Capabilities of Rupture-Mitigation Valves (RMVS) or Alternative Equivalent Technologies [49 CFR 192.636]

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Scope. The
				  requirements in this section apply to rupture-mitigation valves (RMVs), as
				  defined in §503, or alternative equivalent technologies, installed
				  pursuant to
				  §1139 E, F,
				  G, and 2734. [49 CFR
				  192.636(a)]
B. Rupture identification and valve shut-off
				  time. An operator must, as soon as practicable but within 30 minutes of rupture
				  identification (see
				  §2715.A 12, fully
				  close any RMVs or alternative equivalent technologies necessary to minimize the
				  volume of gas released from a pipeline and mitigate the consequences of a
				  rupture. [49 CFR
				  192.636(b)]
C. Open Valves. An operator may leave an RMV
				  or alternative equivalent technology open for more than 30 minutes, as required
				  by Subsection B of this Section, if the operator has previously established in
				  its operating procedures and demonstrated within a notice submitted under
				  §518 for PHMSA
				  review, that closing the RMV or alternative equivalent technology would be
				  detrimental to public safety. The request must have been coordinated with
				  appropriate local emergency responders, and the operator and emergency
				  responders must determine that it is safe to leave the valve open. Operators
				  must have written procedures for determining whether to leave an RMV or
				  alternative equivalent technology open, including plans to communicate with
				  local emergency responders and minimize environmental impacts, which must be
				  submitted as part of its notification to PHMSA. [49 CFR
				  192.636(c)]
D. Valve monitoring and operation
				  capabilities. An RMV, as defined in §503, or alternative equivalent
				  technology, must be capable of being monitored or controlled either remotely or
				  by on-site personnel as follows: [49 CFR
				  192.636(d)]
1. operated during normal, abnormal, and
				  emergency operating conditions; [49 CFR
				  192.636(d)(1)]
2. monitored for valve status (i.e., open,
				  closed, or partial closed/open), upstream pressure, and downstream pressure.
				  For automatic shut-off valves (ASV), an operator does not need to monitor
				  remotely a valve's status if the operator has the capability to monitor
				  pressures or gas flow rate within each pipeline segment located between RMVs or
				  alternative equivalent technologies to identify and locate a rupture. Pipeline
				  segments that use manual valves or other alternative equivalent technologies
				  must have the capability to monitor pressures or gas flow rates on the pipeline
				  to identify and locate a rupture; and [49 CFR
				  192.636(d)(2)]
3. have a back-up power source to maintain
				  SCADA systems or other remote communications for remote-control valve (RCV) or
				  automatic shut-off valve (ASV) operational status, or be monitored and
				  controlled by on-site personnel. [49 CFR
				  192.636(d)(3)]