*Click here for information about the 2023 ND/SD Pipeline Safety Operator Training (PSOT) - October 3, 2023, in Bismarck, ND
Jurisdiction: Pipelines
The Commission's statutory responsibilities concerning pipelines in North Dakota include the following:
- For common pipeline carriers - establish and enforce rates or charges and regulations for receiving, gathering, transporting, loading, delivering, and incident storing of crude petroleum, coal or gas purchased or sold in North Dakota. North Dakota Century Code Chapter 49-19
- For pipeline safety - establish and enforce minimum safety standards for the design, construction, and operation intrastate pipeline facilities used for the distribution and intrastate transportation of gas, liquefied natural gas, or hazardous liquids, regardless of whether they are owned or operated by a public utility. North Dakota Century Code 49-02-01.2
- The Commission enforces North Dakota's One-Call Excavation Notice System established to avoid damage to and minimize interference with underground facilities in and near excavation areas. Click here to visit the PSC's One Call and Damage Prevention webpage
Pipeline Safety
Authority:
The United States Secretary of Transportation has general regulatory and enforcement authority regarding protection against risks to life and property posed by pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities. The United States Department of Transportation agency responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of pipeline transportation is the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
North Dakota must submit annual Certification with the Secretary of Transportation to assume safety responsibility with respect to an intrastate pipeline facility or intrastate pipeline transportation. The Commission has submitted annual certification to assume safety responsibility regarding intrastate transmission and distribution of natural gas and propane and other gas by pipeline, and for intrastate liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities used in the transportation of gas by pipeline. The Commission has not submitted a certification for hazardous liquids pipeline facility safety.
Under the authority provided by North Dakota Century Code 49-02-01.2, the Commission has adopted rules for pipeline safety, including minimum safety standards, and has authority to require proof of compliance - North Dakota Administrative Code Chapter 69-09-03. The Commission requires each owner or operator of pipeline facilities to establish and maintain records, make reports, provide information, and conduct inspections as proof of compliance.
In addition, Commission personnel conduct inspections, audits and investigations regarding safety concerns, including:
- Facility design
- Facility construction
- Facility operation, including control room operation
- Facility operator qualification
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Facility maintenance
- Leak detection and mediation
- Corrosion detection and mediation
- Pressure control and overpressure protection
- Third party damage prevention
- System failures (incidents)
- Continuing integrity of the system
- Public education regarding system characteristics and attributes
Links:
- National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) consists of gas transmission pipelines and hazardous liquid pipelines jurisdictional to PHMSA. It does not contain gas gathering or distribution pipelines, such as lines which deliver gas to a customer's home.
- PHMSA's website regarding pipeline safety in North Dakota
- Pipeline Siting in North Dakota - ND Public Service Commission