U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down Controversial Biden Pipeline Safety Rules
(Reuters) — A U.S. appeals court on Friday tossed out several natural gas pipeline safety standards adopted by President Joe Biden's administration following industry criticism about the massive costs on pipeline operators.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration failed to adequately explain why the revised standards' benefits outweigh their costs.
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, a trade group, had largely supported the revisions, but sued last year to challenge five that PHMSA adopted over its objections.
Those highly technical standards, finalized in 2022, included new requirements for operators to carry out repairs to address pipeline walls thinning or corroding or developing cracks and dents.
The trade group welcomed the ruling. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan, writing for Friday's three-judge panel, said the PHMSA's analysis of the costs of the new standards were inadequate, inconsistent or missing.
"Because the agency imposed a new safety requirement without properly addressing the costs of doing so, the standard cannot stand," Pan, a Biden appointee, said of one of the new requirements.
The court upheld a fifth new standard the trade group had challenged, which addressed monitoring for a type of pipe anomaly that occurs when corrosion and high-pressure cause cracks.
Related News
Related News
- 1,000-Mile Pipeline Exit Plan by Hope Gas Alarms West Virginia Producers
- Valero Plans to Shut California Refinery, Takes $1.1 Billion Hit
- Three Killed, Two Injured in Accident at LNG Construction Site in Texas
- Greenpeace Ordered to Pay $667 Million to Energy Transfer Over Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
- Boardwalk’s Texas Gas Launches Open Season for 2 Bcf/d Marcellus-to-Louisiana Pipeline Expansion
- New Alternatives for Noise Reduction in Gas Pipelines
- Construction Begins on Ghana's $12 Billion Petroleum Hub, But Not Without Doubts
- Missouri Loses Control Over 1.5 Million-Mile Gas Pipeline Network as Feds Step In
- Woodside May Delay Final Investment Decision on Louisiana LNG to Q2, CEO Says
- Panama Canal Considers Pipeline to Move U.S. Gas to Asia
Comments