As used in sections 4905.90 to 4905.96 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Contiguous property" includes, but is not limited to, a manufactured home park as defined in section 4781.01 of the Revised Code; a public or publicly subsidized housing project; an apartment complex; a condominium complex; a college or university; an office complex; a shopping center; a hotel; an industrial park; and a race track.

(B) "Gas" means natural gas, flammable gas, or gas which is toxic or corrosive.

(C) "Gathering line" and the "gathering of gas" have the same meaning as in the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act and the rules adopted by the United States department of transportation pursuant to the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act, including 49 C.F.R. part 192, as amended.

(D) "Gas gathering pipeline" means a gathering line that is not regulated under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act and the rules adopted by the United States department of transportation pursuant to the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act, including 49 C.F.R. part 192, as amended. "Gas gathering pipeline" includes a pipeline used to collect and transport raw natural gas or transmission quality gas to the inlet of a gas processing plant, the inlet of a distribution system, or to a transmission line.

(E) "Gas processing plant" means a plant that processes raw natural gas into merchantable products, including transmission quality gas or natural gas liquids and also may include a plant that treats raw natural gas to remove impurities such as carbon dioxide, helium, nitrogen or water.

(F) "Intrastate pipe-line transportation" has the same meaning as in 82 Stat. 720 (1968), 49 U.S.C.A. App. 1671, as amended, but excludes the gathering of gas exempted by the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act.

(G) "MAOP" means the maximum pressure at which a gas gathering pipeline, a processing plant gas stub pipeline, or any segment of such a pipeline may be operated under sections 4905.90 to 4905.96 of the Revised Code.

(H) "Master-meter system" means a pipe-line system that distributes gas within a contiguous property for which the system operator purchases gas for resale to consumers, including tenants. Such pipe-line system supplies consumers who purchase the gas directly through a meter, or by paying rent, or by other means. The term includes a master-meter system as defined in 49 C.F.R. 191.3, as amended. The term excludes a pipeline within a manufactured home, mobile home, or a building.

(I) "Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act" means the "Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968," 82 Stat. 720, 49 U.S.C.A. App. 1671 et seq., as amended.

(J) "Operator" means any of the following:

(1) A gas company or natural gas company as defined in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code, except that division (E) of that section does not authorize the public utilities commission to relieve any producer of gas, as a gas company or natural gas company, of compliance with sections 4905.90 to 4905.96 of the Revised Code or the pipe-line safety code created under section 4905.91 of the Revised Code;

(2) A pipe-line company, as defined in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code, when engaged in the business of transporting gas by pipeline;

(3) A public utility that is excepted from the definition of "public utility" under division (A)(2) or (3) of section 4905.02 of the Revised Code, when engaged in supplying or transporting gas by pipeline within this state;

(4) Any person that owns, operates, manages, controls, or leases any of the following:

(a) Intrastate pipe-line transportation facilities within this state;

(b) Gas gathering lines within this state which are not exempted by the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act;

(c) A master-meter system within this state.

"Operator" does not include an ultimate consumer who owns a service line, as defined in 49 C.F.R. 192.3, as amended, on the real property of that ultimate consumer.

(K) "Operator of a master-meter system" means a person described under division (J)(4)(c) of this section. An operator of a master-meter system is not a public utility under section 4905.02 or a gas or natural gas company under section 4905.03 of the Revised Code.

(L) "Person" means:

(1) In addition to those defined in division (C) of section 1.59 of the Revised Code, a joint venture or a municipal corporation;

(2) Any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative of persons defined in division (L)(1) of this section.

(M) "Processing plant gas stub pipeline" means a gas pipeline that transports transmission quality gas from the tailgate of a gas processing plant to the inlet of an interstate or intrastate transmission line and that is considered an extension of the gas processing plant, is not for public use, and is not regulated under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act and the rules adopted by the United States department of transportation pursuant to the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act, including 49 C.F.R. part 92, as amended.

(N) "Safety audit" means the public utilities commission's audit of the premises, pipe-line facilities, and the records, maps, and other relevant documents of a master-meter system to determine the operator's compliance with sections 4905.90 to 4905.96 of the Revised Code and the pipe-line safety code.

(O) "Safety inspection" means any inspection, survey, or testing of a master-meter system which is authorized or required by sections 4905.90 to 4905.96 of the Revised Code and the pipe-line safety code. The term includes, but is not limited to, leak surveys, inspection of regulators and critical valves, and monitoring of cathodic protection systems, where applicable.

(P) "Safety-related condition" means any safety-related condition defined in 49 C.F.R. 191.23, as amended.

(Q) "Total Mcfs of gas it supplied or delivered" means the sum of the following volumes of gas that an operator supplied or delivered, measured in units per one thousand cubic feet:

(1) Residential sales;

(2) Commercial and industrial sales;

(3) Other sales to public authorities;

(4) Interdepartmental sales;

(5) Sales for resale;

(6) Transportation of gas.

(R) "Transmission quality gas" means gas consisting predominantly of methane that meets all downstream specifications for transportation in an intrastate or interstate transmission pipeline and that is suitable for use by public consumers.

(S) "Raw natural gas" has the same meaning as in section 4906.01 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.125, SB 315, §101.01, eff. 9/10/2012.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.127, HB 487, §101.01, eff. 6/11/2012 and 9/10/2012.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.43, SB 162, §1, eff. 9/13/2010.

Effective Date: 04-16-1993; 04-05-2007