Saturday, 29 March 2025
Home Topics Politics Courts US appeals court scraps natural gas pipeline safety standards
CourtsNatural GasNewsRegulationsTransmissionUtilities

US appeals court scraps natural gas pipeline safety standards

112
Lengths of pipe wait to be laid in the ground along the under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline near Elliston, Virginia, U.S. September 29, 2019. Picture taken September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Mostoller/File Photo
Lengths of pipe wait to be laid in the ground along the under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline near Elliston, Virginia, U.S. September 29, 2019. Picture taken September 29, 2019. — REUTERS/Charles Mostoller/File Photo

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.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang)

Related Articles

Lilium burnt through huge sums while trying to develop its jet (AFP)

German flying taxi start-up’s rescue deal collapses

A German flying taxi start-up said on Friday it would halt operations...

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum speaks as he attends a signing ceremony with members of the West Virginia Congressional Delegation at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 18, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo

US energy council chief says power plants to produce 15% more electricity

By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Interior Secretary and co-chair of...

Cuba has inaugurated a new solar energy park in the capital Havana (AFP)

Cuba opens solar park hoping to stave off blackouts

Cuba on Friday unveiled a new solar energy park in the capital...

FILE PHOTO: Cranes unload imported iron ore from a cargo vessel at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 27, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Iron ore heads for weekly gain on brightening demand outlook, China stimulus hopes

By Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson BEIJING (Reuters) -Iron ore futures prices...

Login into your Account

Please login to like, dislike or bookmark this article.