[REVISED 2/22/2016]
The Department of Transportation/Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently revised FAQ-41 to reflect the language in the Pipeline Safety Act of 2011.
FAQ-41. Does the requirement that gas pipeline operator establish assessment intervals not to exceed a specified number of years mean calendar years (i.e., pipe assessed in 2004 must be re-assessed during 2011) or actual years?
Re-assessments must be conducted in accordance with an operator’s procedures for determining the appropriate reassessment interval. Prior to the enactment of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, the maximum interval was set using actual years from the date of the previous assessment. Effective January 3, 2012, this was modified such that the maximum interval may be set using the specified number of calendar years. For example, a pipe segment assessed on March 23, 2004 with a seven year interval must be re-assessed before December 31, 2011, using at least confirmatory direct assessment. This segment would need to be re-assessed using one of the methods specified in the rule before December 31, 2014, December 31, 2019 or December 31, 2024, depending on its operating stress (see § 192.939). Note that this change from actual years to calendar years is specific to gas pipeline reassessment interval years and does not alter the actual year interval requirements which appear elsewhere in the code for various inspection and maintenance requirements.
FAQ-41 can be found on the PHMSA website along with the other FAQs.