June 30, 2023
Stanley Chapman
Executive VP and President of U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines
TC Energy
700 Louisiana St., Suite 300
Houston, Texas 77002
Re: Docket No. PHMSA-2022-0084
Special Permit from June 30, 2023, to June 30, 2033
Dear Mr. Chapman:
On June 22, 2022, pursuant to the 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 190.341, Columbia Gulf Transmission, LLC (CGT)1 applied to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for a special permit. CGT requested a special permit to waive compliance with 49 CFR § 192.611 for Class 1 to Class 3 location changes for approximately 7.815 miles of the 30-inch diameter ML 100 and ML 200 and 36-inch diameter ML 300 pipelines (Pipelines). The Pipelines are located in Madison County, Kentucky. A gas transmission pipeline operator is required by 49 CFR § 192.611 to confirm or revise the maximum allowable operating pressure of a pipeline segment where the class location has changed as defined in 49 CFR § 192.5.
On August 17, 2022, PHMSA published a Federal Register notice (87 FR 50693), announcing the Special Permit Request. The Special Permit Request letter, Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), Special Permit Analysis and Findings (SPAF), and all other pertinent documents for this special permit are available in Docket No. PHMSA-2022-0084 in the Federal Docket Management System located at www.regulations.gov.2 PHMSA has not received any public comments on CGT’s special permit request.
Subject to the stated terms and conditions, PHMSA grants the special permit (enclosed) based on the information provided by CGT and the findings set forth in the SPAF, FEA, and FONSI. This special permit provides relief from certain provisions of the Federal pipeline safety regulations for the Pipelines and requires CGT to comply with conditions and limitations designed to maintain pipeline safety as defined in the special permit. Note that in accordance with 49 CFR § 190.341(j), PHMSA reserves the right to revoke, suspend, or modify this special permit if circumstances occur in which its continuance would be inconsistent with pipeline safety. If CGT elects not to implement the special permit conditions, CGT must notify PHMSA within 60 days and comply with 49 CFR § 192.611 within 18 months of the date of this letter granting the special permit.
My staff would be pleased to discuss this special permit or any other regulatory matter with you. Mary McDaniel, Acting Director of PHMSA Engineering and Research Division, may be contacted at (713) 272-2847, on technical matters; and Robert Burrough, Director, Office of Pipeline Safety, Eastern Region may be contacted at (609) 771-7809, for operational matters specific to this special permit.
Sincerely,
Alan K. Mayberry
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety
Enclosure: Special Permit – PHMSA-2022-0084
1. Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC is a subsidiary of TC Energy.
2. https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=PHMSA-2022-0084.