Rule expands oversight to over 400,000 miles of pipelines

The Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a final rule expanding federal pipeline safety oversight to all onshore gas-gathering pipelines.

The rule also expands the definition of a "regulated" gas-gathering pipeline that is over 50 years old.

The rule will apply federal pipeline safety regulations to thousands of miles of unregulated gas-gathering pipelines and require pipeline operators to report safety information for all gas-gathering lines, representing more than 425,000 additional miles covered by federal reporting requirements. The rule also requires all onshore gas-gathering pipeline operators to begin filing incident reports and comprehensive annual reports.

For more information, visit www.phmsa.dot.gov or call (202) 366-4831.