The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has proposed rewriting its safety regulations for liquefied natural gas facilities, which have not been updated since 2006. Comments on the notice of proposed rulemaking are due January 4, 2027.
The proposal would incorporate by reference the most recent industry safety standards and make other changes to reflect more than two decades of improvements and technology. It also responds to congressional mandates directing PHMSA to bring risk-based approaches into the rules for certain LNG facilities. The notice appears in the Federal Register as 91 FR 69314, under docket number PHMSA-2019-0091.
The current rules rest on a 2001 standard
PHMSA's LNG regulations are largely built on the 2001 edition of NFPA 59A, an industry standard for the production, storage and handling of LNG. PHMSA says that edition is now seven editions out of date. The agency says multiple stakeholders have asked it to update the rules to cover current practice in siting, design, construction, operation and maintenance.
PHMSA issued its first federal LNG safety standards in 1970. At that time the U.S. industry consisted mostly of small peak-shaving plants, which liquefy and store gas for delivery during periods of peak demand. The few large facilities were built to import gas. The notice says U.S. shale development has since raised natural gas production and demand, and a growing number of U.S. facilities now export LNG, creating a need for new and expanded plants.
New technology named in the notice
PHMSA points to two designs that did not exist when the rules were written. Membrane tanks pair a thin cryogenic steel inner liner with a load-bearing concrete outer tank. PHMSA describes them as offering improved storage capacity, lower material costs and faster construction than earlier tank designs. Pipe-in-pipe transfer systems give enhanced containment of releases from cryogenic piping.
Congressional directives
The PIPES Act of 2016 directed PHMSA to develop regulations for permanent, small-scale LNG facilities, a subject covered in recent editions of NFPA 59A. The PIPES Act of 2020 directed the agency to develop alternative, risk-based operations and maintenance requirements for large-scale LNG facilities.
How to comment
Comments go to the Docket Management System at the U.S. Department of Transportation, identified by docket number PHMSA-2019-0091, and can be viewed at regulations.gov. A public meeting of PHMSA's statutory advisory committees will be held on a date to be announced in the Federal Register.
