STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4264--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 7, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. GRIFFO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations -- recommitted to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to reporting of
natural gas leaks by gas corporations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section
2 67-b to read as follows:
3 § 67-b. Natural gas leak classifications. 1. The department shall
4 establish a uniform natural gas leak classification system as set forth
5 in this section.
6 2. All leaks shall be assessed a class based on the following system:
7 (a) Type 1 classification. (1) A Type 1 leak is one which, due to its
8 location and/or relative magnitude, constitutes a potentially hazardous
9 condition to the public or buildings. In the event of a Type 1 leak
10 classification the following requirements apply:
11 (i) the leak shall require an immediate effort to protect life and
12 property;
13 (ii) continuous action shall be thereafter taken until the condition
14 is no longer hazardous; and
15 (iii) completion of repairs shall be scheduled on a regular day-aft-
16 er-day basis, or the condition kept under daily surveillance until the
17 source of the leak has been corrected.
18 (2) Type 1 leaks include, but are not limited to:
19 (i) damage by contractors or outside sources resulting in leakage;
20 (ii) any indication on a combustible gas indicator (CGI) of natural
21 gas entering buildings or tunnels;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01083-03-8
S. 4264--A 2
1 (iii) any reading on a CGI within five feet (1.5 meters) of a building
2 wall;
3 (iv) any reading of four percent or greater gas-in-air on a CGI within
4 manholes, vaults or catch basins (sampling will be conducted with the
5 structure in its normal condition as nearly as physically possible); or
6 (v) any leak which, in the judgment of the operating personnel at the
7 scene, is regarded as potentially hazardous.
8 (b) Type 2A classification. (1) A Type 2A leak does not present an
9 immediately hazardous condition to the public or buildings, but is of a
10 nature that requires frequent surveillance and scheduled repair. In the
11 event of a Type 2A leak classification the following requirements apply:
12 (i) the leak shall be repaired within a period not to exceed six
13 months; and
14 (ii) the leak shall be maintained under surveillance with a frequency
15 not to exceed two weeks until repaired.
16 (2) Type 2A leaks include, but are not limited to:
17 (i) any reading of ten percent or greater gas-in-air in any area
18 continuously paved from the curbline to the building wall, which is more
19 than five feet (1.5 meters) but within thirty feet (9.1 meters) of the
20 building and inside the curbline or shoulder of the road;
21 (ii) any reading, in an unpaved area, of twenty percent or greater
22 gas-in-air which is more than five feet (1.5 meters) but within twenty
23 feet (6.1 meters) of the building and inside the curbline or shoulder of
24 the road; or
25 (iii) any leak, other than Type 1, which, under frost or other condi-
26 tions, in the judgment of the operating personnel at the scene should be
27 classified as a Type 2A.
28 (c) Type 2 classification. (1) A Type 2 leak does not present an imme-
29 diate hazardous condition to the public or buildings, but is of a nature
30 requiring scheduled repair. In the event of a Type 2 leak classification
31 the following requirements apply:
32 (i) the leak shall be repaired within a period not to exceed one year,
33 except that leaks classified under clause (v) of subparagraph two of
34 this paragraph shall be repaired within six months; and
35 (ii) the leak shall be maintained under surveillance with a frequency
36 not to exceed two months, except that leaks classified under clause (v)
37 of subparagraph two of this paragraph shall be surveilled every two
38 weeks.
39 (2) Type 2 leaks include, but are not limited to:
40 (i) any reading less than ten percent gas-in-air between the building
41 and the curbline in any area continuously paved which is more than five
42 feet (1.5 meters) but within thirty feet (9.1 meters) of the building
43 and inside the curbline or shoulder of the road; or
44 (ii) any reading less than twenty percent gas-in-air in any unpaved
45 area which is more than five feet (1.5 meters) but within twenty feet
46 (6.1 meters) of a building and inside the curbline or shoulder of the
47 road; or
48 (iii) any reading of thirty percent or greater gas-in-air in an
49 unpaved area which is more than twenty feet (6.1 meters) but within
50 fifty feet (15.2 meters) of a building and inside the curbline or shoul-
51 der of the road; or
52 (iv) any reading of thirty percent or greater gas-in-air in a paved
53 area which is more than thirty feet (9.1 meters) but within fifty feet
54 (15.2 meters) of a building and inside the curbline or shoulder of the
55 road; or
S. 4264--A 3
1 (v) any reading above one percent but below four percent gas-in-air,
2 within manholes, vaults or catch basins (sampling will be conducted with
3 the structure in its normal condition as nearly as is physically possi-
4 ble).
5 (d) Type 3 classification. A Type 3 leak is not immediately hazardous
6 at the time of detection and can be reasonably expected to remain that
7 way.
8 (1) A Type 3 leak is any leak not classified as Type 1, 2A or 2.
9 (2) Type 3 leaks shall be reevaluated during the next required leakage
10 survey or annually, whichever is less.
11 3. Beginning March first, two thousand nineteen, each gas corporation
12 shall report annually to the department the location of each Type 1,
13 Type 2A, Type 2 and Type 3 leak existing as of that date classified by
14 the corporation, the date each Type 1, Type 2A, Type 2 and Type 3 leak
15 was classified and the date of repair performed on each Type 1, Type 2A,
16 Type 2 and Type 3 leak as part of its required gas surveillance program
17 as required under its approved operations and maintenance programs. A
18 gas corporation shall specify any reclassification of previously identi-
19 fied leaks in its report. Such gas leak information shall be made avail-
20 able to any municipal or state official with responsibility for public
21 safety and any member of the legislature upon request to the department.
22 4. Upon the undertaking of a significant project exposing confirmed
23 natural gas infrastructure, and with sufficient notice, a municipality
24 or the state shall submit notification of the project to the relevant
25 gas corporation. The gas corporation shall survey the project area for
26 the presence of Type 1, Type 2A, or Type 2 leaks and set repair and
27 replacement schedules for all known or newly detected Type 1, Type 2A,
28 or Type 2 leaks. The gas corporation shall ensure that any shut off
29 valve in the significant project area has a gate box installed upon it
30 or a reasonable alternative that would otherwise ensure continued public
31 safety and that any critical valve that has not been inspected and test-
32 ed within the past twelve months is verified to be operational and
33 accessible. The gas corporation shall provide the repair and replacement
34 schedule of gas leaks to the municipality or the state.
35 5. The commission shall commence a proceeding to investigate whether
36 New York state should require the winter surveillance and patrol of cast
37 iron or ductile iron pipelines in the state and shall determine whether
38 the presence of extended frost cap conditions may result in additional
39 stress on cast iron or ductile iron pipe segments, requiring enhanced
40 surveillance and patrol. The commission is authorized to establish mini-
41 mum uniform procedures for cast iron and ductile iron surveillance and
42 patrols. Gas corporations are authorized to establish procedures that
43 exceed any minimum standards at their discretion.
44 6. The department, upon the request of a municipal or state official
45 with responsibility for public safety, may require a reevaluation of a
46 Type 3 leak prior to the next scheduled survey, or sooner than twelve
47 months of the date last evaluated, if the official has a reasonable
48 belief that the Type 3 leak poses a threat to public safety.
49 7. The commission shall promulgate regulations necessary to implement
50 the uniform natural gas leak classifications as specified in this
51 section and shall oversee and monitor each gas corporation's response
52 and reporting.
53 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
54 have become a law.