The 26th edition of the safety rules, or standards, took effect November 30, 2023.
On February 23, 2023, the Commission sought permission from the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules (MOAHR) to amend the rules governing gas safety standards. MOAHR approved the request and assigned MOAHR 2023-19 LR on March 2, 2023. The Commission submitted the draft rules to MOAHR and the Legislative Service Bureau (LSB) for informal approvals, which were granted on May 5, 2023, and May 8, 2023, respectively. The Regulatory Impact Statement was approved on March 16, 2023.
On June 9, 2023, the Commission issued an order providing the public with an opportunity to comment on the proposed revisions. See MPSC case docket number U-21369. The Commission held a public hearing on June 11, 2023, at which no public comments were received. The Commission received timely comments from Consumers Energy Company in the docket.
On August 30, 2023, the Commission issued an order approving the rules for submission to LSB and MOAHR for formal approvals, which were both granted on September 21, 2023. On September 25, 2023, the rules were filed with the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), which, by virtue of MCL 24.245a(1), had 15 session days to object to the rules by filing a notice of objection. JCAR did not take any action to prevent the rules from being transmitted to the Secretary of State.
On November 9, 2023, the Michigan Public Service Commission issued an order formally adopting the proposed rules and transmitted the adopted rules to MOAHR for filing with the Office of the Great Seal. The rules took effect on November 30, 2023.
Prior to year 2000, the Michigan Gas Safety Standards were referred to as the Michigan Gas Safety Code and appeared under R 460.14001 to R 460.14999 of the Michigan Administrative Code. Starting on January 6, 2000, the Michigan Gas Safety Standards replaced them and appear instead at R 460.20101 - R 460.20606 of the Michigan Administrative Code.
The Guide to the Michigan Gas Safety Standards combines Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations (rules) with the most up-to-date edition of the Michigan Standards (rules) to provide an easy-to-use reference for field or office. Staff is currently working to complete the 26th edition Guide to the Michigan Gas Safety Standards which incorporates the Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations published through October 1, 2023. However, all historical versions of the Guide to the MGSS can be accessed on this webpage using the dropdown menu below.
To access historical electronic versions of the MGSS (also referred to as Michigan Gas Safety Code) and previous versions of the guidebooks use the MGSS Version History drop-down. Please note that a Guide to the MGSS was not compiled and published for the 19th edition of the MGSS.
For additional questions and inquiries related to the pipeline safety program, please visit the Gas Safety & Operations contact webpage.
