The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on Monday published a final rule in the Federal Register that relaxes inspection and reporting requirements for natural gas pipeline operators.

The rule is meant “to ease regulatory burdens on the construction, operation and maintenance of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipeline systems without adversely affecting safety,” PHMSA said.

Provisions include the easing of inspection requirements for farm taps, which allow rural users in areas with no gas distribution network to directly connect to high-pressure gas transmission pipelines. It also revises the inspection interval for monitoring atmospheric corrosion for gas distribution service...