2020-06377. Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company

AGENCY:

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

PHMSA is publishing this notice to solicit public comment on a request from Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company to renew a previously issued special permit. The special permit renewal request is seeking continued relief from compliance with certain requirements in the Federal pipeline safety regulations. At the conclusion of the 30-day comment period, PHMSA will review the comments received from this notice as part of its evaluation to grant or deny the special permit renewal request.

DATES:

Submit any comments regarding this special permit request by April 27, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

Comments should reference the docket number for the specific special permit request and may be submitted in the following ways:

• E-Gov Website: http://www.Regulations.gov. This site allows the public to enter comments on any Federal Register notice issued by any agency.
• Fax: [phone].
• Mail: Docket Management System: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand Delivery: Docket Management System: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Instructions: You should identify the docket number for the special permit request you are commenting on at the beginning of your comments. If you submit your comments by mail, please submit two (2) copies. To receive confirmation that PHMSA has received your comments, please include a self-addressed stamped postcard. Internet users may submit comments at http://www.Regulations.gov.

Note:

There is a privacy statement published on http://www.Regulations.gov. Comments, including any personal information provided, are posted without changes or edits to http://www.Regulations.gov.

Confidential Business Information: Confidential Business Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments responsive to this notice contain commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Pursuant to 49 Code of Federal Register (CFR) § 190.343, you may ask PHMSA to give confidential treatment to information you give to the agency by taking the following steps: (1) Mark each page of the original document submission containing CBI as “Confidential”; (2) send PHMSA, along with the original document, a second copy of the original document with the CBI deleted; and (3) explain why the information you are submitting is CBI. Unless you are notified otherwise, PHMSA will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public docket of this notice. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Kay McIver, DOT, PHMSA PHP-80, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Any commentary PHMSA receives that is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this matter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

General: Ms. Kay McIver by telephone at 202-366-0113, or by email at [e-mail].

Technical: Mr. Steve Nanney by telephone at 713-272-2855, or by email at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

PHMSA received a special permit renewal request from Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP), owned by Kinder Morgan Inc., to continue its pipeline operation as defined in the special permit renewal issued on May 15, 2015. An additional 200 feet of pipeline, where the Class location had changed from Class 1 to 3, was added to the special permit segment 3 on March 28, 2017. The present special permit term is through May 15, 2020. TGP's special permit renewal request of November 12, 2019, seeks to waive compliance from the requirements of 49 CFR 192.611, “Change in class location: Confirmation or revision of maximum allowable operating pressure”. This special permit renewal is being requested in lieu of pipe replacement or pressure reduction for four (4) special permit segments totaling 37,731 feet of either 30-inch diameter Line 800-1, 30-inch diameter Line 500-1, 36-inch diameter Line 500-2, or 36-inch diameter Line 500-3 located in Dickson and Hickman Counties, Tennessee. The special permit renewal will allow the continued operation of the original Class 1 pipe in the Class 3 locations.

The TGP Line 800-1, Line 500-1, Line 500-2, and Line 500-3 have a maximum allowable operating pressure of 936 pounds per square inch gauge in the special permit segments.

The special permit renewal request, existing special permit with conditions, and environmental assessment (EA) for the TGP is available for review and public comment in the Docket No. PHMSA-RSPA-2000-8453. We invite interested persons to review and submit comments on the special permit renewal request and EA in the docket. Please include any comments on potential safety and environmental impacts that may result if the special permit renewal is granted. Comments may include relevant data.

Before issuing a decision on the special permit renewal request, PHMSA will evaluate all comments received on or before the comment closing date. Comments received after the closing date will be evaluated, if it is possible to do so without incurring additional expense or delay. PHMSA will consider each relevant comment we receive in making our decision to grant or deny this special permit renewal request.

Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.

Alan K. Mayberry,

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.