Why is PHMSA seeking comments on marking of plastic pipe?
Experience has shown that problems with plastic pipe are often limited to specific types of plastic, often to a single manufacturer or lot of material. Operators need to know the particulars of plastic pipe installed in their systems to apply new information concerning potential issues with plastic pipe. Complete records have not always been kept or are not retrievable. Turnover of information during acquisition and divestiture of pipeline systems has not always been complete. As a result, operators are often unable to determine what specific types of plastic pipe are installed in various locations within their systems. PHMSA therefore concludes that it would be desirable for information important to identifying a specific plastic pipe material to be retrievable from an examination of the pipe itself. PHMSA considers that marking of plastic pipe, as part of its manufacturing process, can be a low-cost means of providing information that could be useful to operators in the future. PHMSA
Why is PHMSA seeking comments on marking of plastic pipe?