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.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2547
SPONSOR: Rodriguez (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public service law, in relation to
requiring liquid petroleum pipeline facilities to accelerate the repair,
rehabilitation, and replacement of equipment or pipelines that are leak-
ing or at a high-risk of leaking
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to make operators of gas pipeline facilities
accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of gas piping or
equipment. This bill will also make facilities adopt a cost recovery
program, a standard definition and methodology for calculating and
reporting unaccounted for gas to improve data quality, and limits on
cost recovery for the lost and unaccounted for gas. It will also require
the use of the best available technology to detect gas leaks. This bill
will help to set guidelines pertaining to classifying hazardous pipe-
lines, creating a methodology for calculating unaccounted for gas, and
establishing a database of pipeline infrastructure in cities of one
million or more.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the public service law by adding a new section 63-gg
called Pipeline modernization and consumer protection.
Part 1 establishes the definition of "gas pipeline facility", which is a
distribution facility and gas utility.
Part 2 establishes that each operator of a gas pipeline facility will
accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of gas piping or
equipment that is: (a) leaking; or (b) may pose high risks of leaking,
or may no longer be fit for service, because of: (i) inferior materials,
(ii) poor construction practices, (iii)lack of maintenance, or (iv)age.
Part 3 establishes that in complying with subdivision two of this
section, the commission shall: (a) develop prioritized timelines to
repair all leaks based on the severity of the leak; (b) adopt a cost-re-
covery program; (c) adopt a standard definition and methodology for
calculating and reporting unaccounted for gas to improve data quality;
(d) adopt limits on cost recovery for the lost and unaccounted for gas;
and(e)require the use of the best available technology to detect gas
leaks.
Part 4 establishes that the New York State energy research and develop-
ment authority will issue non binding guidelines to identify the best
practices for classifying high-risk pipeline infrastructure and leaks
for repair or replacement. This will take place no later than one year
after the effective date.
Part 5 establishes that the New York State energy research and develop-
ment authority and the commission, no later than a year after the effec-
tive date, will create and publish forms that adopt a standard defi-
nition and methodology for calculating and reporting unaccounted for
gas.
Part 6 establishes that operators of gas pipeline facilities in cities
with a population of one million or more shall establish a database of
pipeline infrastructure that will be shared with the coordinated build-
ing inspection data analysis.
JUSTIFICATION:
Federal requirements related to repairing pipeline leaks are limited to
hazardous leaks, which are leaks that represent an existing or probable
hazard to persons or property and require immediate repair. There are
no Federal requirements to address slower or less hazardous leaks, which
can allow the leaks to persist unrepaired indefinitely. According to
the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the United
States natural gas distribution system still includes 61,000 miles of
bare steel pipe without adequate corrosion protection and 32,000 miles
of cast iron pipe, which was installed beginning in the 1830s and can be
prone to failure. Major recent pipeline explosions that led to human
fatalities occurred in: Austin, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and
Allentown, Pennsylvania. These explosions were the result of aging,
leaking, and high-risk pipeline infrastructure.
This bill will help create a higher standard of safety in terms of pipe-
line infrastructure, and will lower the cost of the rate that consumers
have to pay for lost and unaccounted for gas. This bill will also help
to improve the environment by limiting the amount of natural gas that
leaks out of faulty pipelines.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2547
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 16, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RODRIGUEZ -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
ARROYO, BROOK-KRASNY, CAMARA, CLARK, COOK, GOTTFRIED, LOPEZ, McDO-
NOUGH, MONTESANO, MOSLEY, PEOPLES-STOKES, PICHARDO, SALADINO, STECK --
read once and referred to the Committee on Energy
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.
LBD00796-01-5
A. 2547 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.
