PHMSA has made amendments conforming Part 192 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to the August 2024 order of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by removing several vacated provisions. On August 24, 2022, PHMSA published a final rule titled “Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines: Repair Criteria, Integrity Management Improvements, Cathodic Protection, Management of Change, and Other Related Amendments” amending the federal pipeline safety regulations at 49 CFR Part 192 to improve the safety of onshore gas transmission pipelines.
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) filed a petition for judicial review challenging several provisions of the 2022 Gas Transmission Final Rule. On August 16, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) ordered the following provisions vacated: 1) Monitoring and mitigation of internal corrosive constituents at § 192.478; 2) The immediate repair criterion for cracks or crack-like anomalies with predicted failure pressures below 1.25 x maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) at §§ 192.714(d)(1)(v)(C) and 192.933(d)(1)(v)(C); and 3) High-frequency electric resistance welded seams as one of the seam types qualifying for the immediate repair criterion of preferential metal loss on certain seam types at §§ 192.714(d)(1)(iv) and 192.933(d)(1)(iv).
These amendments conform the PHMSA regulations in the CFR with the court’s decision.