Notice2026-03686
Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Sable Offshore Corp. (Sable)
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 24, 2026
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Abstract
PHMSA is publishing this notice to solicit public comments on a request for a special permit submitted by Sable Offshore Corp. (Sable). Sable is seeking relief from compliance with certain requirements in the Federal pipeline safety regulations. PHMSA has proposed conditions to ensure that the special permit is not inconsistent with pipeline safety. At the conclusion of the 30-day comment period, PHMSA will review the comments received from this notice as part of its evaluation to grant or deny the special permit request.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8949-8950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03686]
[[Page 8949]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2026-0464]
Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit; Sable Offshore Corp.
(Sable)
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA);
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: PHMSA is publishing this notice to solicit public comments on
a request for a special permit submitted by Sable Offshore Corp.
(Sable). Sable is seeking relief from compliance with certain
requirements in the Federal pipeline safety regulations. PHMSA has
proposed conditions to ensure that the special permit is not
inconsistent with pipeline safety. At the conclusion of the 30-day
comment period, PHMSA will review the comments received from this
notice as part of its evaluation to grant or deny the special permit
request.
DATES: Submit any comments regarding this special permit request by
March 26, 2026
ADDRESSES: Comments should reference the docket number for this special
permit request and may be submitted in the following ways:
<bullet> E-Gov Website: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. This site
allows the public to enter comments on any Federal Register notice
issued by any agency.
<bullet> Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
<bullet> Mail: Docket Management System: U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
<bullet> Hand Delivery: Docket Management System: U.S. Department
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, between
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
Instructions: You should identify the docket number for the special
permit request you are commenting on at the beginning of your comments.
If you submit your comments by mail, please submit two copies. To
receive confirmation that PHMSA has received your comments, please
include a self-addressed stamped postcard. Internet users may submit
comments at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Note: There is a privacy statement published on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Comments, including any personal information
provided, are posted without changes or edits to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Confidential Business Information: Confidential business
information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both
customarily and treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. Sec. 552), CBI is exempt from public
disclosure. If your comments responsive to this notice contain
commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as
private, that you treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive
to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate the
submitted comments as CBI. Pursuant to 49 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) Sec. 190.343, you may ask PHMSA to give confidential treatment
to information you give to the agency by taking the following steps:
(1) mark each page of the original document submission containing CBI
as ``Confidential''; (2) send PHMSA, along with the original document,
a second copy of the original document with the CBI deleted; and (3)
explain why the information you are submitting is CBI. Unless you are
notified otherwise, PHMSA will treat such marked submissions as
confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public
docket of this notice. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Lee
Cooper, DOT, PHMSA-PHP-80, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC
20590-0001. Any commentary PHMSA receives that is not specifically
designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this matter.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
General: Mr. Lee Cooper by telephone at 202-913-3171, or by email
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1e727b7b307d71716e7b6c5e7a716a30797168"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="452920206b262a2a35203705212a316b222a33">[email protected]</span></a>.
Technical: Ms. Gabrielle St. Pierre by telephone at 907-202-0029,
or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#abcccac9d9c2cec7c7ce85d8df85dbc2ced9d9ceebcfc4df85ccc4dd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="73141211011a161f1f165d00075d031a1601011633171c075d141c05">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 22, 2026, PHMSA received a
special permit application from Sable requesting a waiver of the
requirement in 49 CFR 195.452(h)(4)(iii)(H) to remediate certain
longitudinal seam weld corrosion on hazardous liquid pipelines within
180 days of discovery. The waiver would apply to two segments of the
Santa Ynez Pipeline System, an interstate hazardous liquid pipeline
facility that transports crude oil produced on the Outer Continental
Shelf through an onshore processing facility located in Santa Barbara
County, California, to a terminal located in Kern County, California.
The two segments that would be subject to the waiver are known as Lines
CA-324 and CA-325 (including CA-325A and CA-325B).
Sable filed this application for a special permit to implement the
terms of a Consent Decree entered in Civil Action No. 2:20-CV-02415 by
the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
following a rupture that occurred on the Santa Ynez Pipeline System in
May 2015. Lines CA-324 and CA-325 have not been used to transport
hazardous liquid since the rupture, and the Consent Decree required the
prior operator of the pipeline to obtain a waiver before restarting
Lines CA-324 and CA-325 to make sure that effective measures were in
place to mitigate the risk of corrosion.
Sable, which acquired Lines CA-324 and CA-325 after the entry of
the Consent Decree, previously obtained a waiver of the regulation at
issue in this proceeding from the California Office of the State Fire
Marshall. PHMSA also granted a waiver of that regulation in an
emergency special permit that it issued to Sable on December 23, 2025.
Sable has agreed to continue following the terms and conditions in the
emergency special permit until PHMSA issues a decision on the pending
application.
PHMSA has reviewed the draft conditions and preliminarily
determined that the issuance of the special permit would not be
inconsistent with pipeline safety. The requested pipeline segments are
as follows:
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Outside
Line name County, state diameter Length Year
(inches) (miles) installed
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CA-324...................................... Santa Barbara, CA.............. 24 10.86 1990
CA-325A..................................... Santa Barbara, CA.............. 30 38.72 1986
CA-325B..................................... Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, 30 74.84 1986
and Kern, CA.
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[[Page 8950]]
The special permit application including attachments, draft
proposed special permit with conditions, and draft environmental
assessment (DEA) for the above-described Sable pipeline segments are
available for review and public comment in Docket No. PHMSA-2026-0464.
PHMSA invites interested persons to review and submit comments in the
docket on the special permit request, draft proposed special permit,
and DEA. Please submit comments on any potential safety, environmental,
and other relevant considerations implicated by the special permit
request. Comments may include relevant data.
Before issuing a decision on the special permit request, PHMSA will
evaluate all comments received on or before the comment closing date.
PHMSA will consider each relevant comment it receives in making its
decision to grant or deny this special permit request.
Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR
1.97.
Linda Daugherty,
Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2026-03686 Filed 2-23-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P
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