Transportation – Pipeline Safety

Pipeline Safety

Jason Montoya, Pipeline Safety Bureau Chief
(505) 946-8314
JasonN.Montoya@state.nm.us

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Pipeline Safety Bureau:

• Is charged with the task of enforcing Federal and State Pipeline Safety Regulations in order to provide for the safe operation of natural gas and hazardous liquid facilities;
• Is responsible for investigating intrastate pipeline incidents and accidents within New Mexico;
• Enforces the State Excavation Damage Prevention Law; and
• Is responsible for licensing crude oil, natural gas, and oil and gas product pipelines.

Through its 60105 Agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation the Pipeline Safety Bureau is responsible for conducting safety compliance inspections and enforcing state and federal pipeline safety regulations for intrastate gas, hazardous liquid, and CO2 pipeline facilities. These include private and municipal gas distribution systems, master meter gas systems, LPG systems, transmission systems and jurisdictional gathering lines. The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration (PHMSA) conducts annual program evaluations used primarily to determine performance (e.g., operating practices, quality of State agency inspections, investigations, compliance actions and adequacy of recordkeeping). The Pipeline Safety Bureau performance is the major factor considered in allocation grant-in-aid funds from the Federal Government each year.

Emergency/After Hours Number:
(505) 490-2375

Non-Emergency number please call 505-629-9603 or use the staff list below for individual contact information.

Damage Prevention

When to contact NM811

If you plan on digging, excavating, blasting or moving earth in any way, contact New Mexico 811 and all non-members two working days prior to starting excavation. Non-members include homeowners, master meter systems, non-jurisdictional members (i.e. Native American reservations, and federal facilities). New Mexico 811 is open from 7 am to 5 pm, Monday thru Friday, except holidays.

Contacting NM811

When requesting line locates, NM811’s preference is for you to call by telephone or enter your requests at nm811.org. Calls to New Mexico 811 (NM811) are free.

NM811 can be reached:

Toll free from anywhere in New Mexico by calling: 811

Toll free from anywhere in the United States by calling: 1-800-321-2537

If you damage an underground facility

If an underground facility is damaged during excavation, you must stop excavation, call 911 if appropriate, notify the UFO immediately and call 811 to report the damage. Damage may include nicks, dents, gouges, cuts, scrapes or scratches to the coating, insulating jacket or tracer wire.

If your utilities are affected when a damage occurs

If your utilities are affected when a damage occurs then you will need to submit a 3rd party damage report.

New Mexico Excavation Law Classes

We recommend anybody involved with the design, planning, or conducting excavation projects is the appropriate audience. It’s good knowledge to have. The training includes a pre and post test and attendees must score an 80% or better to be considered successful. Certificates will be issued to those scoring 80% or better.

Classes are held the 2nd Monday of every month and begin at 1:00pm (unless otherwise noted). They are held at the New Mexico 811 Center, 1021 Eubank Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87112. Attendees must park in the South Parking lot only.

Classes are free to attend, but RSVP is required. Please RSVP to: pipeline.safety@state.nm.us

Please include Name of attendees; physical mailing address; contact phone number; and case number, if you are attending the class to fulfill the requirements of a notice of probable violation from the Pipeline Safety Bureau.

Informational Videos

Part 3: How are Pipelines Regulated?

NM 811 – Call Before You Dig Commercial

Contact Us

Mailing Address

Public Regulation Commission
Pipeline Safety Bureau
P.O. Box 1269
Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-629-9603

Emergency/After Hours Number:
(505) 490-2375

This number is for emergency/after hours phone calls only and is not monitored for text messages.

To contact the Pipeline Safety Bureau with non-emergency information, please call 505-629-9603 or use the staff list on this page for individual contact information.

Master Meter Program

New Mexico Excavation Law Classes

Pipeline Safety Manuals and Forms

Rules

Title 18: Transportation and Highways 
Chapter 60: Pipeline Construction and Maintenance

Related Links