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
________________________________________________________________________
S. 7010 A. 9336
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
April 11, 2014
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. ESPAILLAT -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy
and Telecommunications
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. RODRIGUEZ -- 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;
21 (b) adopt a cost-recovery program that includes (i) replacement plans
22 with targets and benchmarks for leaking or high-risk infrastructure
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14601-01-4
S. 7010 2 A. 9336
1 replacement, (ii) consideration of the economic, safety, and environ-
2 mental benefits of reduced gas leakage, including consideration of
3 reduced operation and maintenance costs and reduced costs attributable
4 to lost or unaccounted-for natural gas, and (iii) reporting on the
5 reductions in lost or unaccounted-for gas as a result of pipeline
6 replacements;
7 (c) adopt a standard definition and methodology for calculating and
8 reporting unaccounted-for gas to improve data quality;
9 (d) adopt limits on cost recovery for the lost and unaccounted-for
10 gas; and
11 (e) require use of best available technology to detect gas leaks.
12 4. No later than one year after the effective date of this section,
13 the New York state energy research and development authority shall,
14 after notice and opportunity to comment, issue non-binding guidelines
15 identifying best practices for identifying and classifying high-risk
16 pipeline infrastructure and leaks for repair or replacement.
17 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no
18 later than one year after the effective date of this section, the New
19 York state energy research and development authority and the commission
20 shall work jointly to establish and publish forms that adopt a standard
21 definition and methodology for calculating and reporting unaccounted-for
22 gas, including, when possible, information on the causes of unaccount-
23 ed-for gas and the quantities associated with each cause, for use by
24 applicable state agencies to standardize the data collected on unac-
25 counted-for gas.
26 6. Operators of gas pipeline facilities in cities with a population of
27 one million or more shall establish a database of pipeline infrastruc-
28 ture that includes its age and state of repair and shall share this
29 information with the coordinated building inspection data analysis
30 system.
31 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
