Relates to requiring liquid petroleum pipeline facilities to accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of equipment or pipelines that are leaking or at a high-risk of leaking.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
66
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring liquid
petroleum pipeline facilities to accelerate the repair, rehabili-
tation, and replacement of equipment or pipelines that are leaking or
at a high-risk of leaking
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 63-gg to read as follows:
3 § 63-gg. Pipeline modernization and consumer protection. 1. Defi-
4 nition. As used in this section, the following term shall have the
5 following meaning:
6 "Gas pipeline facility" means (a) a distribution facility, and (b) a
7 gas utility.
8 2. Each operator of a gas pipeline facility shall accelerate the
9 repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of gas piping or equipment that
10 is:
11 (a) leaking; or
12 (b) may pose high risks of leaking, or may no longer be fit for
13 service, because of: (i) inferior materials, (ii) poor construction
14 practices, (iii) lack of maintenance, or (iv) age.
15 3. In complying with subdivision two of this section, the commission
16 shall: (a) develop prioritized timelines to repair all leaks based on
17 the severity of the leak, including non-hazardous leaks, or replace
18 identified leaking or high-risk piping or equipment, including leaks
19 identified as part of an integrity management plan developed under this
20 section if applicable;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04359-01-7
S. 66 2
1 (b) adopt a cost-recovery program that includes (i) replacement plans
2 with targets and benchmarks for leaking or high-risk infrastructure
3 replacement, (ii) consideration of the economic, safety, and environ-
4 mental benefits of reduced gas leakage, including consideration of
5 reduced operation and maintenance costs and reduced costs attributable
6 to lost or unaccounted-for natural gas, and (iii) reporting on the
7 reductions in lost or unaccounted-for gas as a result of pipeline
8 replacements;
9 (c) adopt a standard definition and methodology for calculating and
10 reporting unaccounted-for gas to improve data quality;
11 (d) adopt limits on cost recovery for the lost and unaccounted-for
12 gas; and
13 (e) require use of best available technology to detect gas leaks.
14 4. No later than one year after the effective date of this section,
15 the New York state energy research and development authority shall,
16 after notice and opportunity to comment, issue non-binding guidelines
17 identifying best practices for identifying and classifying high-risk
18 pipeline infrastructure and leaks for repair or replacement.
19 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no
20 later than one year after the effective date of this section, the New
21 York state energy research and development authority and the commission
22 shall work jointly to establish and publish forms that adopt a standard
23 definition and methodology for calculating and reporting unaccounted-for
24 gas, including, when possible, information on the causes of unaccount-
25 ed-for gas and the quantities associated with each cause, for use by
26 applicable state agencies to standardize the data collected on unac-
27 counted-for gas.
28 6. Operators of gas pipeline facilities in cities with a population of
29 one million or more shall establish a database of pipeline infrastruc-
30 ture that includes its age and state of repair and shall share this
31 information with the coordinated building inspection data analysis
32 system.
33 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
