Over 400,000 miles of gas-based pipelines will be added to the country due to new federal regulations designed to reduce the risk of ruptures.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) authorized the initiative this week in order to expand federal pipeline safety regulations to onshore gas gathering pipelines.
“After years in development, these new regulations represent a major step to enhance and modernize pipeline safety and environmental standards,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release. “This rule will improve safety, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and result in more jobs for pipeline workers that are needed to help upgrade the safety and operations of these lines.”
The measure began over 10 years ago and has now been broadened to include regulated gas gathering pipelines that have over 50 years of use, the press release said.
“It will, for the first time, apply federal pipeline safety regulations to tens of thousands of miles of unregulated gas gathering pipelines,” the PHMSA said. “The final rule will, also for the first time, require pipeline operators to report safety information for all gas gathering lines, representing more than 425,000 additional miles covered by Federal reporting requirements.”
Natural gas is usually transported from manufacturing facilities to interstate gas transmission pipelines that are usually lower-pressure, lower risk, smaller-diameter lines and strategically located in less dense rural areas. The use of fracking over the past 15 years has led to an increase in the amount of gas transported. This has led to gathering lines with diameters, operating pressures, and associated risk factors similar to larger interstate transmission lines becoming more common.
Several incidents have occurred causing injuries and fatalities. On June 8, 2010, a bulldozer struck a gas gathering line in Texas, causing an explosion that killed two and injured three, the press release said.
The ruptures significantly affect the environment as well, according to the PHMSA. With just one burst, a large, high-pressure gas pipeline can dispense over 1,300 metric tons of methane emissions.
