For decades, gas-gathering pipelines located in rural areas largely escaped the federal scrutiny that was primarily focused on transmission pipelines. But all that has changed with final publication of the so-called Mega Rule, which applies federal pipeline safety regulations to hundreds of thousands of miles of gas-gathering pipelines — previously not subject to federal safety regulation — for the first time. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the history behind the three-part Mega Rule, what it’s designed to do, and the challenges pipeline operators will face to stay in compliance.
Today is Veterans Day, and we at RBN want to take a moment to thank all veterans for their service to our country.
Discussions about ways to improve natural gas pipeline safety go back many years but gained greater prominence after a deadly explosion in San Bruno, CA, in September 2010. In that incident, a 30-inch-diameter segment of a state-regulated intrastate natural gas transmission pipeline owned and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) ruptured in a residential area of San Bruno, a city just south of San Francisco. The released natural gas ignited, resulting in a fire that destroyed 38 homes and damaged 70 others. Eight people were killed and several dozen injured. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the explosion was caused by deficiencies in quality assurance and quality control during the pipe’s installation as well as an inadequate pipeline-integrity program that failed to detect the defective section of pipeline. California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) exemptions related to pressure testing for existing pipelines, which likely would have detected the installation defects, were also cited as a factor, as was the CPUC’s failure to notice and address the inadequacies of PG&E’s pipeline-integrity program.
In response to the San Bruno incident and others, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANOPR) related to pipeline safety in August 2011. An ANOPR is a formal invitation for the public to participate in shaping a proposed rule and sets the notice-and-comment process in motion. The agency then published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) in April 2016 based on comments received in response to the previous notice. The NOPR is the official document that announces and explains the agency’s plan to address a problem or accomplish a goal.
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About the song
“Straighten Up and Fly Right” was written by Nat King Cole and Irving Mills. It was released as a 78 RPM single in April 1944 and went to #1 on the Harlem Hit Parade, #1 on the Billboard Most Played Jukebox Records, and #6 on the Billboard Best Selling Retail Records Singles charts. The King Cole Trio recorded the song, along with three others, during a three-hour recording session at C.P. MacGregor Studios in Hollywood in November 1943. Johnny Mercer produced the record, with John Palladino engineering. The lyrics on the chorus present a pre-jump blues and be-bop jive hipness with the chorus of “Straighten up and fly right, cool down papa, don’t you blow your top.” The song’s lyrics were based on a folk tale that Cole’s father had used in a sermon. The interplay between Oscar Moore’s overdriven guitar and Cole’s piano riffs is also noteworthy. The song has been covered by many artists, including The Andrews Sisters, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Marvin Gaye, Sammy Davis Jr., Linda Ronstadt, and Cole’s daughter, Natalie Cole. In 1950, Capitol Records released a four-volume 78 RPM 10-inch collection of hits from the King Cole Trio. Surprisingly, “Straighten Up and Fly Right” was not included in the collection. It later appeared in the 18-CD limited edition box set, Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio, released by Mosaic Records in 1991. Personnel on the record were: Nat King Cole (piano, vocals), Oscar Moore (electric guitar), and Johnny Miller (acoustic bass).
Nat King Cole (Nathaniel Adams Coles) was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. His professional music career started at the age of 15 and continued for his lifetime. He released 39 studio albums, one live album, 71 compilation albums, and 125 singles. He appeared in 41 films and 24 television programs. He won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Cole died in February 1965 in Santa Monica, CA, at the age of 45.
