Operations & Engineering eNewsletter

October 9 2015 A Publication for AGA Members

Residential Natural Gas Bills Expected to be Lower Compared to Last Winter

AGA held its annual winter outlook event this week and explored expectations for the 2015-16 winter heating season. On average, residential natural gas bills may be 5 to 7 percent lower this winter compared to the previous winter.

Abundant supplies, reasonable temperatures and a moderate increase in total U.S. demand may result in residential natural gas bills lower compared to last year. This winter, many Americans on average may see the second-lowest bills they’ve seen in the past decade.

The price of natural gas this winter is largely due to stable production and a strong underground storage position. Utilities work all year to prepare for the possibility of extreme temperatures and employ a portfolio approach to help ensure they can meet the needs of their customers at affordable prices on the coldest days of the year. Natural gas storage levels in the U.S. are nearing 4 trillion cubic feet and injection levels are among the highest ever.

The entire presentation is available online at AGA.org.

PHMSA Corrects Gas Distribution Annual Report Instructions

In May 2015, Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released changes to the Gas Distribution Annual Report, including modified instructions for reporting the cause of leaks. In the new language there were conflicting, circular instructions for reporting leaks caused by damage during construction. According to the “Other Outside Force” instructions, these leaks are to be reported under “Pipe, Weld, and Joint Failure.” According to the “Pipe, Weld, and Joint Failure” instructions, these leaks are to be reported under “Other Outside Force.”

PHMSA has corrected the instructions so that leaks caused by damage during construction are reported under “Pipe, Weld, and Joint Failure.” PHMSA anticipates that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will approve this minor change to the instructions and PHMSA asks pipeline operators to report CY 2015 data according to the instructions available on the PHMSA website. Contact Erin Kurilla, ekurilla@aga.org.

PHMSA releases Pipeline Operator Safety Program Data

PHMSA just released a new data set of Pipeline Operator Safety Programs. The data lists the safety programs of each operators, and common programs that apply to subsidiary operating companies if applicable. The data indicates the status of each safety program, the effective date of each safety program, and system type (Distribution, Transmission and LNG).

The safety programs highlighted are:

IM Integrity Management OME Operations Maintenance Emergenc

CRM Control Room Management PA Public Awareness

DP Damage Prevention OQ Operator Qualification

OPA Oil Pollution Act Facility Response Plan D&A Drug & Alcohol Testing

Pipeline Operator Safety Program Data is a new option on the right-hand menu on PHMSA’s Data & Statistics page. It can also be accessed directly.

Note: You will need to click the ‘Safety Program Search’ in the right column of the page to access the data. We urge operators to check your own company data and relay to PHMSA as soon as possible if there are any errors or inconsistencies as the data is now live. Contact Junaid Faruq, jfaruq@aga.org.

Congressional Research Service Report on DOT’s

Federal Pipeline Safety Program

The Congressional Research Service has released a report - “DOT’s Federal Pipeline Safety Program: Background and Key Issues

for Congress” - that gives an overview of the main concerns facing the US pipeline network, pipeline security and government

and industry’s overall efforts to improve pipeline safety.

The Pipeline Safety Act imposed 42 mandates regarding studies, rules, maps, and other elements of the federal pipeline safety

program. While PHMSA has fulfilled many of these mandates, 16 remain incomplete, including several key mandates with

potentially large impacts on pipeline operations nationwide. The document highlighted six significant uncompleted mandates:

Automatic and Remote-Controlled Shut-off Valves. Statutory deadline January 2014.

Integrity Management Expansion and Class Location Replacement. Statutory deadline July 3, 2013.

Leak Detection. Statutory deadline “as soon as practicable” after January 3, 2014. A draft Rule was under review

as of May 2015.

Accident and Incident Notification. Regulatory changes were to be implemented by July 3, 2013. PHMSA

published an ANPRM with 1 hour reporting requirement on July 10, 2015 - no final rule has been issued.

Excess Flow Valves. Statutory deadline for this mandate was January 2014. PHMSA published NPRM in July 2015.

Maximum Allowable Operation Pressure Verification. PHMSA requires all operators to report pipelines without

sufficient MAOP records and a proposed rule was submitted April 2015.

Other sections of the report express concern over the construction of unregulated shale gas gathering lines, proposals to

increase the requirements to conduct internal inspections of transmission pipelines using smart pigs and the NTSB

recommendation that all natural gas transmission pipelines be made “piggable.” The report also mentions hydrotesting and

the NTSB recommendation that all pre-1970 undergo hydrostatic pressure tests and includes discussion on antiquated cast

iron pipe that has been recognized as warranting attention in terms of management, replacement and/or reconditioning. The

Secretary of Energy has stated that safety and environmental risks from old, leaky distribution lines are “a big issue” with the

total cost of replacing cast iron and bare steel distribution pipes is approximately $270 billion. The complete report can be

viewed and downloaded online now. Contact Kofi Woodley, kwoodley@aga.org.

EPA Extending Deadline for Methane Challenge Comments

EPA is extending the October 13 deadline for filing comments on the proposed voluntary Methane Challenge program. EPA hasn’t set the new deadline yet, but in an announcement today, the agency said they will advise the new comment deadline “shortly” when the technical details describing the best management practices (BMP) list for each sector, and a model Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), are released. EPA will allow sufficient time to evaluate and comment on the supplemental technical document. Contact Pam Lacey, placey@aga.org.

Registration Open Now - AGA Materials Tracking & Traceability Workshop

Registration is open now for AGA’s Materials Tracking and Traceability workshop. The workshop will be held November 10-11 at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, DC and will feature presentations and case studies from pipeline operators, regulators, manufacturers and service providers. Presentations will focus on information about tracking and traceability of pipeline components and materials. Regulators, pipeline operators, and service providers are invited to participate in this forum.

Presenters will include representatives from PHMSA, LocusView Solutions, piping component manufacturers and gas utilities. A preliminary agenda, online registration and hotel information are all available on the AGA website. For more information, please contact Kate Miller, kmiller@aga.org.

Sponsorship Opportunities Available: AGA invites you to join us by becoming an official sponsor at an AGA event. Sponsorship enhances your presence and capitalizes on the opportunity to connect with key customers and decision-makers. For more information or suggestions on sponsorships, contact Annemarie O’Donoghue, aodonoghue@aga.org.

2015 AGA Fall Committee Meetings

Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s Operations Section Fall Committee

Meetings, Security Meetings and workshops at Amelia Island, Florida. What a location!

What a week! With more than 750 attendees over the week, this was another record

breaking event. We hope your time with us was valuable. Our fall meetings are continuing

to grow and evolve and we look forward to bringing you another packed program in 2016.

Thank you to our speakers and presenters for sharing your expertise and experience. Your

willingness to share your knowledge ensures our industry will grow and prosper. Thank

you to our sponsors. Your generous support of our events allows us to keep the bar high

when hosting our members.

We are already looking ahead to our 2016 Operations Conference, which will take place at

the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix during the week of April 18. Stay tuned for an invitation

coming out to you early in the new year!

Clean Water Rule Stayed Nationwide

Today, a federal appeals court for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati issued an order granting a petition by 18 states to stay

implementation of the joint EPA-Army Corps of Engineers rule that expands the scope of federally regulated Waters of the

United States (WOTUS). Today’s order stays implementation of the WOTUS rule pending litigation nationwide – not just in

the 18 states that brought this particular challenge. An earlier decision in another court challenge to the WOTUS rule stayed

the rule in just 13 states. There are several other challenges to the rule pending in different federal courts across the

country that are expected to be consolidated. No decision has been made yet on which court will hear the consolidated

WOTUS challenges. Contact Pam Lacey, placey@aga.org.

Calendar

Discussion Groups Discussion groups are open to all AGA full & limited

members ONLY.

AGA’s Operations Discussion Groups are an opportunity for mem-ber companies to come together to address the operational chal-lenges. All Discussion Groups are scheduled for 2PM EST. Nov 19: TIMP Risk Models. Erin Kurilla Dec 8: Pipeline Safety Management Systems. Kate Miller Dec 8: Pipeline Safety, Compliance, Oversight. Betsy Tansey Dec 10: Pipeline Expansion. Vanessa George Dec 15: Compressor Operations. Erin Kurilla Dec 3: Damage Prevention. Andrew Lu Dec 9: Quality Management Task Group. Andrew Lu TBD: GIS/GPS and Work Management Systems. Junaid Faruq TBD: Management of Company Standards. Mike Bellman For Discussion Group information and links to each Group website, please CLICK HERE.

Surveys & Data Requests

Due Now: September 2015 Monthly Plastic Piping Data Project Reports: Download the reporting forms at AGA.org. If you need assistance with any of the reporting forms, please contact Kate Miller or Junaid Faruq. Due Oct 12: Ballot on “Developing and Implementing a Quality Assurance Program for Natural Gas Operations” White Paper. Contact Betsy Tansey Due Oct 20: Ballot on “Reducing Pipeline Damages from Trenchless Technologies” White Paper. Contact Andrew Lu Due Oct 20: SOS Survey- Radio Communications. Contact Andrew Lu Due Oct 22: SOS Survey - Work Permits. Contact Kofi Woodley Due Oct 22: SOS Survey - Near Misses & Close Calls. Contact Vanessa George. Due Oct 22: SOS Survey - Records Access. Contact Andrew Lu

Available Now

For Summaries of Responses to SOS Surveys, log on to

aga.org to view our searchable list of SOS summaries

covering a wide range of operations related topics. If you do

not already have an AGA password, or you need to reset

your existing password, please click here first.

Rectifiers and Cathodic Protection

Plastic Pipe Squeeze Off Practices

Gas Pipe Replacement

Electric Faults Notifications

Natural Gas Market Indicators - summarizing recent

developments in natural gas pricing, heating and cooling

degree days statistics, underground storage, domestic gas

production, rig counts, pipeline imports and exports, and

international LNG issues. Contact Chris McGill or Richard

Meyer.

October

12-14: Best Practices Combined Roundtable: New Main and Service Construction AND Replacement Main and Services Construction, Portland, OR. Contact Mike Bellman

29-30: OSRAC Fall Meeting. Denver, CO. Contact Erin Kurilla

November

4-6: Best Practices Collection and Maintenance of As-Built Documentation Roundtable, Plano, TX. Contact Mike Bellman

10-11: AGA Tracking & Traceability Workshop. Washington, DC. Contact Kate Miller

16-17: AGA Executive Leadership Safety Summit. Washington, DC. Contact Andrew Lu

17-18: AGA Energy Delivery Cybersecurity Executive Summit. (by invitation only - commencing immediately following closing of Safety Summit.) Washington, DC. Contact Kimberly Denbow

Member Surveys, Summaries & Updates

This document has been prepared by the American Gas Association for members. In issuing and making this publication available, AGA is not undertaking to render professional or other services for or on behalf of any person or entity. Nor is AGA undertaking to perform any duty owed by any person or entity to someone else. The statements in this publication are for general information only and it does not provide a legal opinion or legal advice for any purpose. Information on the topics covered by this publication may be available from other sources, which the user may wish to consult for additional views or information not covered by this publication.

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