Virginia Administrative Code › Title 20 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS › Agency 5 - STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION › Chapter 360 - LICENSED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER TO EXERCISE RESPONSIBLE CHARGE OVER CERTAIN NATURAL GAS ENGINEERING PROJECTS › Section 20VAC5-360-30 - Use of professional engineers

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Any gas pipeline engineering plans or
				specifications for engineering work or services that (i) involve gas pipeline
				facilities, as defined in the federal regulations promulgated under
				49
				USC §
										60101 et seq., as amended and adopted
				by the commission in the commission's pipeline safety standards pursuant to §
									56-257.2 of
				the Code of Virginia, and the federal pipeline safety laws and (ii) may present
				a material risk to public safety must be produced by or under the direct charge
				and supervision of a professional engineer with sufficient knowledge of a gas
				company's natural gas distribution system, and such plans or specifications
				must bear the professional engineer's stamp, in accordance with §
									54.1-406 of the
				Code of Virginia.
B. A professional
				engineer must ensure that the plan or specification conforms to the applicable
				pipeline safety laws, regulations, and standards, and the review and use of a
				professional engineer's stamp must comply with the professional and ethical
				obligations set forth in Virginia.
C. Engineering services involving gas
				pipeline facilities and that present a material risk to public safety shall
				include:
1. New installation of district
				pressure regulator stations, compressor stations, or gate stations.
2. Reconfiguration or physical facility
				changes, other than routine operating adjustments and like-kind replacements,
				performed at district pressure regulator stations, compressor stations, or gate
				stations that alter or modify the configuration or overpressure protection of
				equipment.
3. Installation,
				uprating, repair, or abandonment of intrastate transmission
				pipelines.
4. Any distribution main
				piping modifications or replacement work falling within established district
				regulator awareness zones as established by each operator.
5. Construction or maintenance work on
				distribution mains, other than routine maintenance, inspections, and minor
				adjustments, that changes the system operating pressure and requires a bypass
				or a change in the system operating pressure that involves more than two
				tie-ins.
6. Installation of
				distribution mains where such mains attach to bridges or other engineered
				structures.
7. Installation of
				distribution mains, including replacements and extension projects, that are
				within or cross any public right-of-way.
8. Installation or abandonment of service
				lines connecting to transmission lines or installation or abandonment of
				service lines connecting to high-pressure distribution mains with a MAOP that
				exceeds 100 psig.
9. Installation
				of peak shaving facilities, to include any modifications or reconfigurations
				that would alter such a facility's pressure delivery characteristics.
10. Any other project in the judgment of the
				operator that poses a material risk to public safety.