PHMSA proposes new rule to improve detection and leak repair, reduce pollution and waste from gas pipelines
In what U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg labeled long-overdue, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed a new rule last week that would revamp decades-old pipeline leak detection and repair methods and cut harmful pollution.
“Quick detection of methane leaks is an important way to keep communities safe and help curb climate change,” Buttigieg said.
Enter the new notice of proposed rulemaking, recently transmitted to the Federal Register. It would update decades-old federal leak detection and repair standards based on human senses and use commercially available, advanced technologies to find and fix leaks of methane and other flammable, toxic, and corrosive gasses. This would affect more than 2.7 million miles of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipelines, more than 400 underground natural gas storage facilities, and 165 liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. Overall, the department said this would increase public safety while reducing methane and other pollutant emissions, as well as improve environmental justice in communities where such infrastructure is disproportionately sited.
This has been a long time coming, as directed by the PIPES Act of 2020. In 2030 alone, the administration stated the change could eliminate up to 1 million metric tons of methane emissions and reduce emissions from covered pipelines by up to 55 percent. If approved, USDOT added that these efforts could also create up to $2.3 billion annually in benefits.
“On a bipartisan basis, Congress came to the common-sense conclusion that it is finally time to deploy modern technologies to find and repair pipeline leaks to prevent waste of valuable products and protect people and the environment,” PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown said. “This rule will deploy pipeline workers across the country to find and repair leaks that will improve safety for the public—and will ensure America continues to be the global leader in methane mitigation, which is one of the most potent greenhouse gases threatening the economy and our planet today.”
One of the biggest changes herein would be that pipeline operators will need to create advanced leak detection programs meant to detect and repair all, rather than merely some, gas leaks. The frequency of surveys would need to go up, and these operators will need to tap these technologies, be they aerial or vehicle surveys, handheld detection devices, continuous monitoring systems, or otherwise, to meet new minimum performance standards.
The reporting minimum threshold will be lowered, and so will intentional releases from equipment venting for pipeline repairs, while operators are encouraged to consider cost-effective equipment capable of capturing methane for later use. Further, new criteria and timeframes for the repair of leaks posing risks to public safety or the environment will be made explicit.
This rule, and its demands for compliance from pipeline operators, is expected to be deployed within the coming months.
