Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Southern Natural Gas Company, LLC

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2016-0006]

Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Southern Natural Gas Company, LLC

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 renewal received from Southern Natural Gas Company, LLC (SNG). 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 renewal request.

DATES:

Submit any comments regarding this special permit request by June 27, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Comments should reference the docket number for this 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 Regulations (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. Steve Nanney by telephone at 713-272-2855, or by email at

steve.nanney@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

PHMSA received a renewal request of a special permit issued on September 1, 2016, to SNG, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, Inc., seeking a waiver from the requirements of 49 CFR 192.611(a) and (d): Change in class location: Confirmation or revision of maximum allowable operating pressure, 49 CFR 192.619(a): Maximum allowable operating pressure: Steel or plastic pipelines, and 49 CFR 192.5(c): Class locations.

The September 1, 2016, special permit was granted for 26 special permit segments and approximately 5.90 miles of the SNG natural gas transmission pipeline system located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This special permit renewal is being requested in lieu of pipe replacement, pressure reduction, or new pressure tests for 17 gas transmission special permit segments totaling 17,864.41 feet (approximately 3.383 miles). The nine (9) special permit segments that are not included in this notice nor the below table now meet the requirements of either 49 CFR 192.611(a) or 192.619(a) for a Class 3 location. The 17 renewal special permit segments, which have changed from a Class 1 to Class 3 location, are as follows:

Renewal

special permit

segment No.

County or parish, state

Outside

diameter

(inches)

Line name

Length

(feet)

Year

installed

Maximum

allowable

operating

pressure

(pounds per square inch gauge)

1

Autauga, AL

30

South Main 2nd Loop Line

1,847.74

1981

1,200

3

Lee, AL

30

South Main 2nd Loop Line

512.00

1969

1,200

4

Autauga, AL

18

South Main Line

1,130.20

1951

1,200

5

Autauga, AL

24

South Main Loop Line

1,673.15

1958

1,200

6

Autauga, AL

24

South Main Loop Line

1,008.21

1958

1,200

7

Lee, AL

24

South Main Loop Line

662.00

1958

1,200

8

Lee, AL

24

South Main Loop Line

1,291.96

1958

1,200

9

Harris, GA

30

South Main 2nd Loop Line

796.04

1981

1,200

10

Harris, GA

26

South Main 2nd Loop Line

2,246.00

1967

1,200

12

Jones, GA

16

South Main Line

199.57

1953

1,200

13

Harris, GA

24

South Main Loop Line

1,027.11

1958

1,200

14

Harris, GA

20

South Main Loop Line

2,432.59

1958

1,200

15

Spalding, GA

20

Thomaston Griffin 2nd Loop Line

176.67

1981

1,200

18

East Baton Rouge, LA

20

Duck Lake Franklinton Line

704.54

1953

1,200

19

Livingston, LA

20

Duck Lake Franklinton Line

1,297.63

1953

1,200

22

East Baton Rouge, LA

24

White Castle Franklinton Loop Line

125.66

1968

1,200

26

Livingston, LA

30

White Castle Franklinton Loop Line

733.34

1970

1,200

The special permit renewal request, proposed special permit with conditions, draft environmental assessment (DEA), and annual report findings for pipeline integrity and reportable incidents for the above listed SNG special permit segments are available for review and public comments in Docket No. PHMSA-2016-0006. PHMSA invites interested persons to review and submit comments on the special permit renewal 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. Comments may include relevant data.

Before issuing a decision on the special permit renewal request, PHMSA will evaluate all comments received on or before the comments 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 it receives in making its decision to grant or deny this special permit request.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2022, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.

Alan K. Mayberry,

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.

[FR Doc. 2022-11494 Filed 5-26-22; 8:45 am]

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