PHMSA will host a public meeting of the Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee on August 8-9, 2013 in Arlington, Virginia.  78 Fed. Reg. 41496 (July 10, 2013). This is a peer review committee within the Department of Transportation (DOT) that advises PHMSA on the technical feasibility, practicability, and cost-effectiveness of proposed pipeline safety standards.  49 U.S.C. § 60115.  As stated in the federal register notice, this meeting will include a joint session of the natural gas and hazardous liquids committees to “discuss a variety of topics to keep committee members up-to-date on DOT’s pipeline safety program.”  This meeting will not be webcast, but PHMSA will post the presentations within 30 days following the meeting at http://www.regulations.gov under docket number PHMSA-2013-0156.

It is expected that the August meetings will present several new concepts PHMSA is considering, including phase out of the “grandfather” clause for pre-1970 natural gas pipelines, and including new terms such as “legacy” pipe (pre-1970), Moderate Consequence Area (MCA, to supplement existing HCAs), etc.