If adopted as-is, the rule would establish a set of new requirements, including:
- Establishing for the first-time design, installation, operation, maintenance, and reporting requirements for carbon dioxide gas pipelines.
- Establishing new requirements that pipeline operators must adhere to when converting existing pipelines to transport carbon dioxide in different phases.
- Requiring all carbon dioxide pipeline operators to provide training to emergency responders and ensure carbon dioxide detection and other equipment is available for local first responders to use and efficiently respond during an emergency.
- Implementing more robust requirements for communicating with the public during an emergency.
- Requiring more detailed vapor dispersion analyses to better protect the public and the environment in the case of pipeline failure.
The Department of Energy has forecasted a significant expansion of the U.S. carbon dioxide pipeline network as part of a new global effort to capture and sequester excess heat-trapping carbon dioxide pollution. A December 2023 Congressional Budget Office report cited a nearly 10-fold increase in CCS projects under development. Estimates indicate that, by 2050, the mileage of carbon dioxide pipelines could expand by as much as 10 times the current number of more than 5,000 miles in operation.
Today’s announcement follows PHMSA’s 2022 efforts that imposed new requirements for CO2 pipelines to install remote or automatic shut off valves to improve pipeline safety during rare instances of pipeline failures. Since 2021, PHMSA has published six final or proposed major rules, including today’s CO2 proposal, underscoring the agency’s focus on executing a backlog of pipeline safety congressional mandates. PHMSA has regulated the safety of pipelines transporting carbon dioxide in a supercritical state for decades and has focused Federal research on improving the safety these pipelines.
The full text of the NPRM will be available in the Federal Register on publication. Those interested in commenting on the NPRM must do so within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register by submitting comments here. PHMSA has posted an unofficial version of the NPRM on its website pending publication in the Federal Register.
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Original article published by USDOT