The Texas Propane Gas Association (TPGA) has noticed an uptick in violations of LP-Gas Safety Rule §9.142(a)(1). LP-Gas Rule §9.142(a)(1) stipulates that facilities can forgo installing pumps for customer self-service if the storage tanks are positioned further away from buildings than usual.
In discussions with the Commission, it was noted that there has been a notable increase in instances where wet lines are being installed on tanks, allowing customers to fill their own private-use cylinders, ranging from 20 to 40 pounds, including forklift cylinders.
Historically, the RRC has observed such installations, but they were typically situated at a considerable distance, ranging from 20 to 50 feet, away from any buildings.
However, recent observations indicate these 250 – 1,000 gallon tanks are only being positioned a minimum of 10 feet from buildings.
This violates the 1 ½ times distance requirement required by LP-Gas Safety Rule 9.142(a)(1).
Additionally, if cylinders of 101 pounds or less are being filled, LP Gas Safety Rule 9.136 requires that they be filled by weight, requiring the presence of scales, which have not been present.
Inspectors are writing violations in these instances for both the distance requirement and the inability to provide scales, except in the case of forklift cylinders, which can be filled using a fixed liquid level gauge.
This means adhering to a distance 1.5 times the standard NFPA 58 minimum distance to comply. Alternatively, for tanks under 125 gallons, a minimum distance of 15 feet from buildings is acceptable.