§ 62-50. Safety standards for gas pipeline facilities.
§ 62‑50. Safetystandards for gas pipeline facilities.
(a) The Commission may promulgate and adopt safety standards forthe operation of natural gas pipeline facilities in North Carolina. Thesesafety standards shall apply to the pipeline facilities of gas utilities andpipeline carriers under franchise from the Utilities Commission and to pipelinefacilities of other gas operators, as defined in subsection (g) of thissection. The Commission shall require that all gas operators file with theCommission reports of all accidents occurring in connection with the operationof their gas pipeline facilities located in North Carolina. The Commission mayrequire that all gas operators file with the Commission copies of theirconstruction, operation, and maintenance standards and procedures, and anyamendments thereto, and such other information as may be necessary to showcompliance with the safety standards promulgated by the Commission. Where theCommission has reason to believe that any gas operator is not in compliancewith the Commission's safety standards, the Commission may, after notice andhearing, order that gas operator to take such measures as may be necessary tocomply with the standards. The Commission may require all gas operators tofurnish engineering reports showing that their pipeline facilities are in safeoperating condition and are being operated in conformity with the Commission'ssafety standards.
(b) The Commission is hereby authorized to enter into agreementswith the United States department of Transportation and other federal agenciesand with other states or public utilities commissions of other states for theregulation of natural gas pipelines located within the State of North Carolinaand upon the execution of such cooperative agreements, the Commission isauthorized to utilize Commission personnel for inspection, investigation, andregulation of safety standards for interstate and intrastate natural gaspipelines in North Carolina, and to share in the cost of such regulation withother agencies having duties with respect to the regulation of said natural gaspipelines, and to receive funds from the United States Department ofTransportation for such regulation. The Commission may use Commission personnelto inspect and investigate all gas incidents, facilities, and records keptpursuant to the provision of 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 191, 192,and 193, and to cooperate with other state and federal agencies in determiningthe probable cause or cause or causes of gas incidents. Any informationobtained during an investigation of a gas incident shall be reduced to writingand a report containing that information shall be filed with the Chief Clerk ofthe Commission and the report shall be subject to public inspection but thereport shall not be admissible in evidence in any civil or criminal proceedingarising from the incident.
(c) The Utilities Commission is hereby authorized to enter intocooperative agreements for inspection of all natural gas pipelines of NorthCarolina to the end that the Utilities Commission may enter into agreementswith the United States Department of Transportation or other federal or stateagencies to regulate and inspect the safety standards for all natural gaspipelines in the State of North Carolina, including interstate natural gaspipelines.
(d) Anyperson who violates any provision of this section, or any regulation of theUtilities Commission issued thereunder, shall be subject to a civil penalty foreach violation for each day that the violation continues. The maximum penaltyfor each day of a violation and for all the days of a continuing violation maynot exceed the maximum penalties that would apply if the penalties had beenimposed under 49 U.S.C. Appx. § 1679a(a) by the Secretary of the United StatesDepartment of Transportation. Penalties assessed under this subsection shallbe credited to the General Fund as nontax revenue.
(e) Any action for civil penalty or any claim for said penaltymay be compromised by the Utilities Commission and settled for an agreedamount. In determining the amount of the penalty imposed in civil action, orthe amount agreed upon in compromise, the amount of the penalty shall beconsidered in relation to the size of the business of the person charged, thegravity of the violation, and the good faith of the person charged inattempting to achieve compliance, after any prior notification of a violation. The amount of the penalty, when finally determined in a civil action, or theamount agreed upon in compromise, may be deducted from any sums owing by theState to the person charged, or may be collected as in the case of any judgmentin a civil action in the State courts.
(f) The General Court of Justice of North Carolina isauthorized to issue court orders, restraining orders, injunctions and otherprocesses of the court in actions by the Utilities Commission to enforce theprovisions of this Chapter relating to gas pipeline safety, and the Commissionis authorized to bring actions in said court, including actions for mandatoryinjunctions, restraining orders, temporary restraining orders, penalties,damages and such other relief as may be necessary to secure compliance with theprovisions of this section and regulations of the Commission duly enacted andadopted hereunder relating to gas pipeline safety. This provision is inaddition to other powers of the Commission and the courts in relation to theenforcement of provisions of this Chapter in the courts, and shall not limitthe present powers of the Commission in bringing actions in the courts forenforcement of other provisions of this Chapter.
(g) For the purpose of this section, "gas operators"include gas utilities and gas pipeline carriers operating under a franchisefrom the Utilities Commission, municipal corporations operating municipallyowned gas distribution systems, regional natural gas districts organized andoperated pursuant to Article 28 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes, andpublic housing authorities and any person operating apartment complexes or mobilehome parks that distribute or submeter natural gas to their tenants. Thissection does not confer any other jurisdiction over municipally owned gasdistribution systems, regional natural gas districts, public housingauthorities or persons operating apartment complexes or mobile home parks. (1967, c. 1134, s. 1; 1969, c. 646; 1971, cc. 549, 1145; 1979, c. 269,s. 1; 1989, c. 481, ss. 1, 2; 1993, c. 189, s. 1; 1997‑426, s. 9.)