Bill Text: NY S05801 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires gas pipeline facilities to accelerate the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of equipment or pipelines that are leaking or at a high risk of leaking; requires the public service commission to establish a standard definition and methodology for calculating and reporting unaccounted-for gas.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S05801 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S05801-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5801

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 18, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the public service law, in relation to requiring gas
          pipeline facilities to  accelerate  the  repair,  rehabilitation,  and
          replacement  of  equipment  or pipelines that are leaking or at a high
          risk of leaking

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The public service law is amended by adding a new section
     2  66-q to read as follows:
     3    § 66-q. Pipeline modernization and consumer protection. 1. As used  in
     4  this section, "gas pipeline facility" means (a) a distribution facility,
     5  and (b) a gas utility.
     6    2.  Each  operator  of  a  gas  pipeline facility shall accelerate the
     7  repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of gas piping or equipment  that
     8  is:
     9    (a) leaking; or
    10    (b)  may  pose  high  risks  of  leaking,  or may no longer be fit for
    11  service, because of: (i)  inferior  materials,  (ii)  poor  construction
    12  practices, (iii) lack of maintenance, or (iv) age.
    13    3.  In  complying with subdivision two of this section, the commission
    14  shall: (a) develop prioritized timelines to repair all  leaks  based  on
    15  the  severity  of  the  leak,  including non-hazardous leaks, or replace
    16  identified leaking or high-risk piping  or  equipment,  including  leaks
    17  identified  as part of an integrity management plan developed under this
    18  section if applicable;
    19    (b) adopt a cost-recovery program that includes (i) replacement  plans
    20  with  targets  and  benchmarks  for  leaking or high-risk infrastructure
    21  replacement, (ii) consideration of the economic,  safety,  and  environ-
    22  mental  benefits  of  reduced  gas  leakage,  including consideration of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00068-01-1
        S. 5801                             2

     1  reduced operation and maintenance costs and reduced  costs  attributable
     2  to  lost  or  unaccounted-for  natural  gas,  and (iii) reporting on the
     3  reductions in lost or  unaccounted-for  gas  as  a  result  of  pipeline
     4  replacements;
     5    (c)  adopt  a  standard definition and methodology for calculating and
     6  reporting unaccounted-for gas to improve data quality;
     7    (d) adopt limits on cost recovery for  the  lost  and  unaccounted-for
     8  gas; and
     9    (e) require use of best available technology to detect gas leaks.
    10    4.  No  later  than one year after the effective date of this section,
    11  the commission shall, after notice and  opportunity  to  comment,  issue
    12  non-binding  guidelines  identifying  best practices for identifying and
    13  classifying high-risk pipeline infrastructure and leaks  for  repair  or
    14  replacement.
    15    5.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of law to the contrary, no
    16  later than one year after  the  effective  date  of  this  section,  the
    17  commission shall establish and publish forms that adopt a standard defi-
    18  nition  and  methodology  for  calculating and reporting unaccounted-for
    19  gas, including, when possible, information on the causes  of  unaccount-
    20  ed-for  gas  and  the  quantities associated with each cause, for use by
    21  applicable state agencies to standardize the  data  collected  on  unac-
    22  counted-for gas.
    23    6. Operators of gas pipeline facilities in cities with a population of
    24  one  million  or more shall establish a database of pipeline infrastruc-
    25  ture that includes its age and state of  repair  and  shall  share  this
    26  information  with  the  coordinated  building  inspection  data analysis
    27  system.
    28    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.