Bill Text: NY A07334 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

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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: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-27 - advanced to third reading cal.427 [A07334 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A07334-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7334--B

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     April 25, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. REYES, LIFTON, DICKENS, COLTON, GOTTFRIED, ENGLE-
          BRIGHT, DeSTEFANO, McDONOUGH, MOSLEY, PICHARDO, JAFFEE, GLICK, NIOU --
          read  once  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Energy -- committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee -- reported and referred to the Committee  on  Codes
          --  recommitted  to the Committee on Codes in accordance with Assembly
          Rule  3,  sec.  2  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        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

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06102-06-0
        A. 7334--B                          2

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