Sec. 217. Fire shutoff valves
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/bill/119/s/2975/rs/section-217·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Section 60110 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: In this subsection: The term equivalent technology means any technology that— is not an excess flow valve; and meets the performance standard of shutting off gas on a service line of a distribution system to a dwelling or other building in the event of a fire. The term fire-first ignition means an occurrence in which a fire originating from a foreign source causes a natural gas system to fail, release, or ignite.
The term fire safety valve means— a fire shutoff valve; and any equivalent technology. The term fire shutoff valve means a spring-loaded plug that is held in place by a fusible link that— is made of a low-melting-point alloy; is attached to a gas source; and melts when exposed to fire, causing the spring-loaded plug to close, shutting off the gas to a dwelling or other building connected to a service line of a distribution system. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall complete a study on the effectiveness of fire safety valves in order to determine the ability of fire safety valves to improve public safety through mitigation of secondary ignitions, such as fire-first ignitions.
The study under subparagraph
(A)shall evaluate— various scenarios and applications for deploying fire safety valves; the current incidence of fire-first ignition of natural gas distribution pipelines; anticipated reduction of fire-first ignition risk under various fire safety valve deployment scenarios, including— lowering the likelihood of gas ignition; and lowering the impact and damage of fire-first ignition incidents; the long-term durability, construction, and effectiveness of fire safety valves; and the commercial availability of fire safety valves for the pipeline industry. After completing the study described in paragraph (2), the Secretary may prescribe risk-based standards on the circumstances under which an operator of a natural gas distribution system shall be required to install fire shutoff valves or equivalent technologies in the system. .