The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration can only release NPMS data to government officials and pipeline operators. There are several private vendors who can provide you pipeline GIS data at a cost. The NPMS Public Map Viewer is open to all users and displays NPMS data for a single county at a time. Additionally, the Find Who’s Operating in Your Area tool provides the general public with pipeline operator contact information within a specific state, county, or ZIP code.

A complete submission to the NPMS consists of five components. Your first step should be to consult the Summary of Required Components page. Next, download the latest version of the NPMS Operator Standards and the NPMS Operator Submission Supplemental Instructions. Everything you need to know about making a submission is contained in these documents. The five components that are required are as follows:

• Public Contact Information
• Geospatial Pipeline Data
• Attribute Data
• Metadata
• Transmittal Letter

Contact NPMS staff at npms@dot.gov for an update on your submission status.

Operators are required to submit their data to the NPMS every 12 months, or to notify the NPMS National Repository if there have been no changes from the previous submission. In order to align NPMS submissions with Annual Reports, operators are required to use the same OPID to report assets to the NPMS as they use in their Annual Report. Operators are also requested to submit their gas pipelines to the NPMS between 1/1 and 3/15 of each year reflecting assets as of 12/31 the previous year and to submit liquid pipelines between 1/1 and 6/15 of each year, reflecting assets as of 12/31 the previous year.

Section 2 of the NPMS Operator Standards defines the pipeline data that is collected for the NPMS.

Yes. Metadata is associated with the Commercially Navigable Waterways, High Population Areas and Other Populated Areas data layers in NPMS. The metadata describes the sources and accuracies of the data layers.

Operators should evaluate the information they obtain from the NPMS to determine if it is accurate. If operators conclude that changes to HCA boundaries are needed (e.g., populated areas have expanded), then operators should make those changes to the HCAs as they are used in the operators' integrity management programs. Operators should document the reasons for such changes and be prepared to discuss them during PHMSA Pipeline Safety inspections. Operators should not generally inform PHMSA Pipeline Safety of such changes. PHMSA Pipeline Safety relies upon other agencies (e.g., Census Bureau, Corps of Engineers) for the data used in the NPMS and does not have the resources to engage those agencies to make minor changes. An exception in which operators should notify PHMSA Pipeline Safety would be if significant positional or labeling errors are found. As an example, rivers in Alaska were found to be mis-located in early versions of the NPMS due to digitizing errors in the original Commercially Navigable Waterways data set. PHMSA Pipeline Safety will work with other agencies as appropriate to try to correct any major deficiencies in the NPMS. Operators should contact their PHMSA Pipeline Safety Region representatives if they identify errors of this nature.