SENATE, No. 1919

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MARCH 20, 1997

By Senator ADLER

An Act concerning gas companies and supplementing chapter 9 of Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the Board of Public Utilities (hereinafter, "board") shall require every gas company organized under the laws of this State to install excess flow valves on every new and every replaced gas service line where operating conditions of the service line are compatible with the use of commercially available excess flow valves.

    2. The board shall promulgate, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

    3. This act shall take effect on the 60th day after enactment, but the board may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of the act.

STATEMENT

    This bill would require natural gas companies that are regulated by the Board of Public Utilities to install excess flow valves on every new and every replaced gas service line when operating conditions of the service line are compatible with the use of commercially available excess flow valves.

    The National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") recently issued a safety recommendation to all states and the District of Columbia to require gas distribution operators to install excess flow valves in all new or replaced gas service lines, when operating conditions of the service line are compatible with the use of commercially available valves. The NTSB noted that its investigation yielded strong evidence of the need to require that there be a way to quickly shut off the flow of gas to a damaged pipe segment. The NTSB added that while the ability to shut off the flow of gas quickly would not prevent accidents, it would significantly reduce their consequences.

Requires gas utilities to install excess flow valves under certain conditions.