Bill Text: NY S03210 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Senate Bill 3210 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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) 2020-07-15 - PRINT NUMBER 3210A [S03210 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S03210-Introduced.html

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3210
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    February 4, 2019
                                       ___________
        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 liquid
          petroleum pipeline facilities  to  accelerate  the  repair,  rehabili-
          tation,  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  63-gg to read as follows:
     3    § 63-gg. Pipeline modernization and consumer protection. 1.   As  used
     4  in this section, "gas pipeline facility" means (a) a distribution facil-
     5  ity, 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.
                                                                   LBD06102-01-9

        S. 3210                             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 New York state energy  research  and  development  authority  shall,
    12  after  notice  and  opportunity to comment, issue non-binding guidelines
    13  identifying best practices for  identifying  and  classifying  high-risk
    14  pipeline infrastructure and leaks for repair or 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  New
    17  York  state energy research and development authority and the commission
    18  shall work jointly to establish and publish forms that adopt a  standard
    19  definition and methodology for calculating and reporting unaccounted-for
    20  gas,  including,  when possible, information on the causes of unaccount-
    21  ed-for gas and the quantities associated with each  cause,  for  use  by
    22  applicable  state  agencies  to  standardize the data collected on unac-
    23  counted-for gas.
    24    6. Operators of gas pipeline facilities in cities with a population of
    25  one million or more shall establish a database of  pipeline  infrastruc-
    26  ture  that  includes  its  age  and state of repair and shall share this
    27  information with  the  coordinated  building  inspection  data  analysis
    28  system.
    29    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.