[Docket ID: PHMSA-2018-0086]
PHMSA announced it was exercising enforcement discretion with respect to portions of a final rule issued January 23, 2017, that pertain to individual service lines directly connected to a natural gas transmission, gathering, or production pipeline (farm taps). The January 23, 2017, final rule exempted these lines from PHMSA regulations requiring operators of distribution pipelines to implement a Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP), and instead added maintenance and inspection requirements that apply specifically to farm taps.
Pursuant to the exercise of enforcement discretion announced in this document, PHMSA will not take enforcement action against operators who forego the new maintenance and inspection requirements and instead mitigate any future risk associated with farm taps through compliance with the existing DIMP regulations. This will provide regulatory flexibility to pipeline operators while at the same time maintaining an equivalent level of safety.
This action is effective March 26, 2019. For additional information or questions, contact Chris McLaren at chris.mclaren@dot.gov or (281) 216-4455.
For a copy of PHMSA’s Farm Tap notice from the Federal Register, contact Jessica Foley.