[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47723-47724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19186]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0004]
Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revision to
Gas Distribution Annual Report
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: On April 28, 2014, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) published a notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 23403) of its
intent to revise the gas distribution annual report (PHMSA F7100.1-1)
to improve the granularity of the data collected. In addition to making
several minor changes to the report, PHMSA will also request a new
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number for this
information collection.
PHMSA received comments from one commenter in response to that
notice. PHMSA is publishing this notice to respond to the comments,
provide the public with an additional 30 days to comment on the
proposed revisions to the forms and the instructions and announce that
the revised information collection will be submitted to the OMB for
approval.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by September 15, 2014
to be assured of consideration.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blaine Keener by telephone at 202-366-
0970, by fax at 202-366-4566, by email at [email protected].
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the docket number
PHMSA-2013-0004 by any of the following methods:
Fax: 1-202-395-5806.
Mail: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA),
Records Management Center, Room 10102 NEOB, 725 17th Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20503, ATTN: Desk Officer for the U.S. Department of
Transportation\PHMSA.
Email: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB,
at the following email address: [email protected].
Requests for a copy of the information collection should be
directed to Angela Dow by telephone at 202-366-1246, by fax at 202-366-
4566, by email at [email protected] or by mail at U.S. Department of
Transportation, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., PHP-30, Washington,
DC 20590-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Section 1320.8(d), Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations requires
PHMSA to provide interested members of the public and affected agencies
an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping
requests. This notice identifies a revised information collection
request that PHMSA will submit to OMB for approval. The information
collection is titled: ``Annual Report for Gas Distribution Pipeline
Operators'' (2137-0522).
Summary of Topic Comments/Responses
During the two-month response period, PHMSA received comments on
the Gas Distribution Annual Report from the American Gas Association
(AGA).
This notice responds to the comments, which may be found at http://www.regulations.gov, at docket number PHMSA-2013-0004. The docket also
contains the form and instructions as amended in response to the
comment. The AGA comments are summarized below and followed by the
PHMSA response.
Comment: Under Part C, Cause of Leak, AGA proposes a new leak cause
category for operators to use in those instances when the leak is
eliminated by replacement and abandonment of the leaking pipe. AGA
indicates that operators prefer to indicate the cause of the leak and
avoid using ``other'' whenever possible for the reporting of a leak
cause, but it is difficult to determine the cause of a leak when a
pipeline is replaced in its entirety rather than making a repair.
Response: PHMSA's instructions for the ``Other Cause'' category
encourage operators to use one of the specific categories whenever
possible. A ``Repair by Replacement'' category would provide no insight
into the cause of the leak. A single, non-specific category of ``Other
Cause'' is sufficient to capture the number of leaks for which the
operator cannot determine or assign the cause.
Comment: Under Part D, Excavation Damage, AGA recommends an
additional root cause, ``Failure to Call.'' AGA believes that this is
different from ``One-Call Notification Practices Not Sufficient'' in
that this item covers insufficiencies of action between the call center
and the excavator. AGA believes it is critical to capture ``Failure to
Call'' as a separate excavation damage metric in order to attain future
[[Page 47724]]
enhancements to one-call laws. AGA also notes numbering errors in Part
D.
Response: PHMSA believes that the proposed information on the
apparent root cause of excavation damages is adequate. The four
apparent root cause categories are those established by the
international Common Ground Alliance (CGA) in their Damage Information
and Reporting Tool (DIRT). In DIRT, and in the PHMSA incident and
accident reports, ``Failure to Call'' is one of three subcategories
under ``One-Call Notification Practices Not Sufficient.'' For
incidents, the additional level of detail is appropriate since there
are fewer reports. PHMSA intentionally chose to limit the reporting
burden for damages on the annual report by collecting the apparent root
cause at a ``higher'' level. It appears that AGA was reviewing a 2013
edition of the report when they noted errors in the Part D numbering.
The 2014 edition of the report in the docket has no numbering errors in
Part D.
Comment: AGA recommended that Part H, Additional Information, which
allows operators to provide text explaining information submitted
elsewhere in the annual report, be retained.
Response: It appears that AGA was reviewing a 2013 edition of the
report when they noted the proposal to eliminate Part H. The 2014
edition of the report in the docket does not propose the elimination of
Part H.
Comment: AGA expressed concern about portions of the proposed
definition for ``Reconditioned Cast Iron.'' AGA also noted an error in
the instructions regarding where to describe ``other'' pipe materials.
Response: PHMSA concurs with these comments. We revised the
definition of ``Reconditioned Cast Iron'' in line with AGA's comments.
We clarified where operators should enter the description of ``other''
pipe materials.
Comment: Under Part C, Total Leaks And Hazardous Leaks Eliminated/
Repaired During The Year, AGA commented that the leak cause category
``Pipe, Weld Or Joint Failure'' may exclude certain items, such as
leaks on fittings. In addition, AGA commented that the new definition
seems to only cover installation errors due to force applied during
construction.
Response: PHMSA proposes changing the ``Material or Weld'' category
name to ``Pipe, Weld Or Joint Failure'' to match the name used in the
gas distribution incident report. PHMSA concurs with AGA's comments
about fittings and installation errors. PHMSA has revised the
instructions for the leak cause category ``Pipe, Weld Or Joint
Failure'' accordingly.
Comment: Under Part D, Excavation Damage, AGA recommends that PHMSA
should include damage to tracer wire in the description of excavation
damage. AGA notes that some operators are currently reporting tracer
wire damage to DIRT as excavation damage, but the annual report
instructions do not specify that tracer wire damages should be reported
as excavation damage.
Response: PHMSA concurs with the recommendation and has revised the
instructions to include damage to tracer wire as excavation damage.
Proposed Information Collection Revisions and Request for Comments
The following information is provided for each revised information
collection: (1) Title of the information collection; (2) OMB control
number; (3) Type of request; (4) Abstract of the information collection
activity; (5) Description of affected public; (6) Estimate of total
annual reporting and recordkeeping burden; and (7) Frequency of
collection. PHMSA will request a three-year term of approval for this
information collection activity.
Title: Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.
OMB Control Number: N/A.
Current Expiration Date: N/A.
Type of Request: Revision.
Abstract: PHMSA is looking to revise the Gas Distribution Annual
Report (PHMSA F 7100.1-1) to make several minor changes related to data
collection.
Affected Public: Gas distribution pipeline operators.
Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
Total Annual Responses: 1,440.
Total Annual Burden Hours: 23,040.
Frequency of Collection: Annually.
Comments are invited on:
(a) The need for the proposed collection of information for the
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether
the information will have practical utility;
(b) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques.
Issued in Washington, DC on August 6, 2014.
Jeffrey D. Wiese,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2014-19186 Filed 8-13-14; 8:45 am]
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