Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

PHMSA is publishing this notice to solicit public comments on a request for special permit from Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP (GSPC). The special permit request is seeking 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 request.

DATES:

Submit any comments regarding this special permit request by March 9, 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: 1-202-493-2251.
• 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 kay.mciver@dot.gov.

Technical: Mr. Joshua Johnson by telephone at 816-329-3825, or by email at joshua.johnson@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

PHMSA received a special permit request from the GSPC, a subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP, seeking a waiver from the requirements of 49 CFR 192.611, Change in class location: Confirmation or revision of maximum allowable operating pressure. The Class 1 to Class 3 location change occurred in May of 2019. This special permit is being requested in lieu of pipe replacement or pressure reduction for one (1) 42-inch diameter pipe special permit segment of 214 feet in length on the Index 817 Pipeline located in Madison Parish, Louisiana. The proposed special permit will allow operation of the original Class 1 pipe in the Class 3 location.

The Index 817 Pipeline is a 240-mile pipeline on the GSPC system that begins at a connection on the Index 816 Pipeline near Keatchie, Louisiana. The Index 817 Pipeline runs east from Keatchie, Louisiana to the GSPC Harrisville Compressor Station in Mississippi, where it connects to the GSPC Index 818 Pipeline. The Index 817 Pipeline was installed in 2007. The maximum allowable operating pressure for the Index 817 Pipeline in the proposed special permit segment is 1,456 pounds per square inch gauge.

The special permit request, proposed special permit with conditions, and Draft Environmental Assessment (DEA) for the Index 817 Pipeline segment are available for review and public comment in Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0207. We invite interested persons to review and submit comments on the special permit request and DEA in the docket. Please include any comments on potential safety and environmental impacts that may result if the special permit is granted.

Before issuing a decision on the special permit 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 request.