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US appeals court scraps gas pipeline safety standards

A U.S. appeals court on Friday tossed out several gas pipeline safety standards adopted by President Joe Biden's administration following market criticism about the enormous costs on pipeline operators.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stated the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Security Administration stopped working to sufficiently explain why the revised standards' advantages exceed their costs.

The Interstate Gas Association of America, a trade group, had actually mostly supported the revisions, however took legal action against last year to challenge five that PHMSA adopted over its objections.

Those highly technical requirements, finalized in 2022, included brand-new requirements for operators to carry out repairs to address pipeline walls thinning or corroding or developing fractures and damages.

The trade group welcomed the judgment. The agency did not react to a request for comment.

U.S. Circuit Judge Florence Pan, composing for Friday's. three-judge panel, stated the PHMSA's analysis of the expenses of the. brand-new standards were inadequate, irregular or missing.

Because the company imposed a new safety requirement without. correctly resolving the costs of doing so, the standard can not. stand, Pan, a Biden appointee, said of one of the new. requirements.

The court promoted a 5th new standard the trade group had. challenged, which addressed monitoring for a type of pipeline. anomaly that happens when deterioration and high pressure cause. fractures.

(source: Reuters)