The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has proposed updates to its liquified natural gas facilities to incorporate by reference the most recent industry safety standards and to make other changes to account for more than two decades of improvements and technological advancements. PHMSA states this rulemaking also responds to congressional mandates directing the agency to integrate risk-based regulatory approaches for certain LNG facilities.

The proposed rule includes the following changes:

• PHMSA proposes to clarify that operators of LNG facilities must report safety related conditions and incidents during initial startup. This clarification would help ensure that operators are reporting incidents and safety-related conditions that occur at the earliest phase in the operational lifetime of an LNG facility, which is critical in determining its long-term integrity.

• PHMSA proposes to incorporate by reference the 2026 edition of NFPA 59A. The agency currently incorporates the 2001 edition of NFPA 59A for most purposes. This would enhance the requirements for the siting, design, installation, construction, operations, and maintenance of LNG facilities and align PHMSA’s regulations with the latest safety-enhancing practices and technologies.

• PHMSA proposes to incorporate by reference the traditional, prescriptive siting requirements in chapter 5 of NFPA 59A-2026.

• PHMSA proposes to establish requirements for permanent, small-scale LNG facilities by incorporating chapter 17 of NFPA 59A-2026 by reference into a new subpart D.

• PHMSA proposes to adopt an alternative, risk-based operations and maintenance (O&M) program for FERC-jurisdictional LNG facilities in a new subpart F.

The agency estimates the annualized cost savings from the proposed rule to be approximately $98 million, and notes that some of the new compliance costs and many of the cost savings of the proposed rule could not be quantified based on the available data. PHMSA anticipates significant unquantified safety benefits would result from adopting the safety-enhancing elements of NFPA 59A-2026, as supplemented and qualified by other proposed part 193 amendments.