In This Issue

ASME B31.8 Q (operator qualification standard) Update

A committee of transmission, utilities, liquids, contractors and regulatory personnel has been working diligently to develop a technical standard for the qualification of pipeline personnel since August of 2003. An initial draft of the standard was reviewed in January. Currently the committee is held up by a lack of consensus on a covered task list. A special session of the committee has been convened for mid-April in Nashville. Consensus should be reached following this session, which will allow the other teams working on sections of the standard to complete their work. The committee’s goal is to complete the ASME balloting process by September and then present the standard to the regulators so it can be published for comment by the end of the year.