The Office of Pipeline Safety recently announced their new website dedicated to Pipeline Integrity Management issues. It is located at http://primis.rspa.dot.gov/iim/. We are sure that you will want to bookmark this site for future reference. As described in OPS’s notice concerning this new site: This web site provides information about OPS’s new Rule on Pipeline Integrity Management in High Consequence Areas for Hazardous Liquid Operators (49 CFR 195.452). The site provides information on the basic steps required for operator compliance with these new requirements. It also contains several useful resources, such as the rule and preamble text, a glossary of terminology, and a fact sheet summarizing the key requirements. This site is highly interconnected to assist users in locating information on a particular subject. For example, the major clauses in the rule all contain links to a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” that provide additional guidance and interpretation of the specific requirements.

The Frequently Asked Questions on this web site include the questions raised by participants at the August Integrity Management workshop. We had planned to discuss these issues at the October workshop. Since this workshop was cancelled for security reasons, our web site is now our primary vehicle for communicating this information.

Editor’s note: Our hats go off to OPS for getting this site up and running, and with such useful information, in the midst of very trying times in our nation’s Capitol. Great job!