WTO notification · TBT
United StatesAdopted, according to its latest notice
Official title
Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements
The United States issued an addendum on 14 July 2026 to the earlier TBT notification G/TBT/N/USA/1387. Addenda often report that a measure was adopted, changed, postponed or withdrawn. The measure was first notified on 21 August 2018. The comment period closed on 1 October 2018.
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Natural gas transmission pipelines
Latest notice (G/TBT/N/USA/1387/Add.3, 14 July 2026)
The latest notice says the measure was adopted or published.
Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities
In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the information collection request abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on this information collection was published on 14 January 2026 (notified as G/TBT/N/USA/1387/Add.2). Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 12 August 2026. 91 Federal Register (FR) 43018, 13 July 2026: This action and previous actions notified under the symbol G/TBT/N/USA/1387 are identified by Docket Number PHMSA-2017-0151. The Docket Folder is available on Regulations.gov at and provides access to primary and supporting documents as well as comments received. Documents are also accessible from Regulations.gov by searching the Docket Number. WTO Members and their stakeholders are asked to submit comments to the USA TBT Enquiry Point by or before 4pm Eastern Time on 12 August 2026. Comments received by the USA TBT Enquiry Point from WTO Members and their stakeholders will be shared with PHMSA and will also be submitted to the Docket on Regulations.gov if received within the comment period.
PHMSA is seeking public comment on its existing class location requirements for natural gas transmission pipelines as they pertain to actions operators are required to take following class location changes due to population growth near the pipeline. Operators have suggested that performing integrity management measures on pipelines where class locations have changed due to population increases would be an equally safe but less costly alternative to the current requirements of either reducing pressure, pressure testing, or replacing pipe. This request for public comment continues a line of discussion from a Notice of Inquiry published in 2013 and a report to Congress in 2016 regarding whether expanding integrity management requirements would mitigate the need for class location requirements.
Every notice about this measure published here, newest first. Each one is the notifying member's own text.
AddendumG/TBT/N/USA/1387/Add.3
Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities
In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the information collection request abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on this information collection was published on 14 January 2026 (notified as G/TBT/N/USA/1387/Add.2). Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 12 August 2026. 91 Federal Register (FR) 43018, 13 July 2026: This action and previous actions notified under the symbol G/TBT/N/USA/1387 are identified by Docket Number PHMSA-2017-0151. The Docket Folder is available on Regulations.gov at and provides access to primary and supporting documents as well as comments received. Documents are also accessible from Regulations.gov by searching the Docket Number. WTO Members and their stakeholders are asked to submit comments to the USA TBT Enquiry Point by or before 4pm Eastern Time on 12 August 2026. Comments received by the USA TBT Enquiry Point from WTO Members and their stakeholders will be shared with PHMSA and will also be submitted to the Docket on Regulations.gov if received within the comment period.
AddendumG/TBT/N/USA/1387/Add.2
Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is updating its regulations to allow operators to apply modern risk management principles in addressing the safety of gas pipelines affected by class location changes. Relying on an approach originally developed in the 1950s, PHMSA's regulations use class locations to provide an additional margin of safety in the design, construction, testing, operation, and maintenance of gas pipelines based on population density. When the class location of a pipeline changes due to an increase in population density, an operator may need to take certain actions to confirm or to revise the maximum allowable operating pressure of a segment. Because the methods traditionally used for that purpose do not account for modern risk management principles, PHMSA has granted special permits for more than two decades allowing operators to use an integrity-management-based alternative. This final rule adopts that 'IM alternative' by regulation to provide operators with an additional method for confirming or restoring the maximum allowable operating pressure of certain eligible segments that experience class location changes. This rule is effective 16 March 2026. The incorporation by reference of certain material listed in this rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of 16 March 2026. Comment related to the information collection may be submitted by 16 March 2026, as detailed in Section VII.H. 91 Federal Register (FR)…
AddendumG/TBT/N/USA/1387/Add.1
Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); DOT ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) SUMMARY: In response to public input received as part of the rulemaking process, PHMSA is proposing to revise the Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations to amend the requirements for gas transmission pipeline segments that experience a change in class location. Under the existing regulations, pipeline segments located in areas where the population density has significantly increased must perform one of the following actions: Reduce the pressure of the pipeline segment, pressure test the pipeline segment to higher standards, or replace the pipeline segment. This proposed rule would add an alternative set of requirements operators could use, based on implementing integrity management principles and pipe eligibility criteria, to manage certain pipeline segments where the class location has changed from a Class 1 location to a Class 3 location. Through required periodic assessments, repair criteria, and other extra preventive and mitigative measures, PHMSA expects this alternative approach would provide long-term safety benefits consistent with the current natural gas pipeline safety rules while also providing cost savings for pipeline operators. DATES: Persons interested in submitting written comments on this proposed rule must do so by 14 December 2020. Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable. This notice of proposed rulemaking and the…
Regular notificationG/TBT/N/USA/1387
Comment deadline: Closed on 1 October 2018
Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements
PHMSA is seeking public comment on its existing class location requirements for natural gas transmission pipelines as they pertain to actions operators are required to take following class location changes due to population growth near the pipeline. Operators have suggested that performing integrity management measures on pipelines where class locations have changed due to population increases would be an equally safe but less costly alternative to the current requirements of either reducing pressure, pressure testing, or replacing pipe. This request for public comment continues a line of discussion from a Notice of Inquiry published in 2013 and a report to Congress in 2016 regarding whether expanding integrity management requirements would mitigate the need for class location requirements.
Expodite writes its summary from the official record. The notification and the documents it notifies are on the WTO's own websites.
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