Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements; Correction

Official abstract: PHMSA is making a technical correction to a January 14, 2026 final rule that amended the class location change requirements. The final rule allows an operator to confirm or to restore the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of an eligible gas transmission pipeline segment that experiences a class location change by implementing an integrity management (IM) alternative. For MAOP restorations, PHMSA is clarifying in this correction notice that the 24-month deadline for implementing the initial programmatic requirements of the IM alternative runs from the effective date of the final rule or the date that an operator decides to initiate an MAOP restoration, whichever is later. This clarification is consistent with the requirements in the final rule, including the deadline in the IM alternative that applies to MAOP confirmations, which runs from the effective date of the final rule or the date of the class location change, whichever is later.