FOSA Encourages Secretary Buttigieg to Advance Pipeline Rulemaking

PRESS RELEASE
July 25, 2022
FOSA Encourages Secretary Buttigieg to Advance Pipeline Rulemaking 

WASHINGTON, DC – July 25, 2022 – The Fiber Optic Sensing Association (FOSA), the nation’s premier trade association dedicated to fiber optic sensing wrote to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to encourage his Department to move forward with a pipeline safety rulemaking, to promote the adoption of technology enhancements. View the letter

In its letter, FOSA noted that the American Petroleum Institute (API) recently completed a two-year project to update their leak detection Recommended Practice (RP) documents, specifically RP1130 (computational leak detection) and RP1175 (leak detection program management). FOSA Chairman Dave Cunningham wrote Secretary Buttigieg: “We hope that PHMSA and other agencies around the world include these updates to the industry RPs in their continued reviews and updates of pipeline safety rulemaking, reflecting the technological progress that the industry is making to keep pipelines the safest mode of transportation for a variety of products.”

The Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-69), enacted into law on December 20, 2020, includes a requirement that DOT promulgate final regulations “not later than 1 year after the date of enactment” that require operators of regulated gathering lines, new and existing gas transmission pipeline facilities, and new and existing gas distribution pipeline facilities conduct leak detection and repair programs. Section 113, Leak Detection and Repair, states that the regulations must include minimum standards that reflect the capabilities of commercially available advanced technologies; the leak detection and repair programs must be able to identify, locate and categorize leaks; and must require the use of advanced leak detection technologies.