On April 12, 2017, the National Energy Board (NEB) of Canada issued a Safety Advisory NEB SA 2016-01A – Pipeline Fitting Materials Quality Assurance. It states, in part: “The National Energy Board (NEB or the Board) is aware of instances of pipe and components not meeting material specifications on pipelines under NEB or other regulatory…
Uncategorized
Texas Liquids Pipeline Regulation Change
The Texas Railroad Commission has published revisions to Title 16, Part 01 / 008; Subchapter 8D – Requirements for Hazardous Liquids and Carbon Dioxide Pipelines Only. The revisions include: Changing the e-mail address from Safety@rrc.state.tx.us to safety@rrc.texas.gov. Minor revisions to the Public Education and Liaison section 8.310 regarding annual liaison requirements with fire, police, and…
PHMSA Inflation Adjustment of Maximum Civil Penalties
[Docket No. PHMSA-2016-0010; Amdt. No. 190-17] The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is revising references in its regulations to the maximum civil penalties for violations of Federal pipeline safety laws, or any PHMSA regulations or orders issued thereunder. Under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which further amended…
Industry Workshops
API Liquids Pipeline Safety Management System (PSMS) Conformance WorkshopJune 13, 2017Hyatt Regency Houston Galleria The organizers of the 2017 API Liquids PSMS Conformance Workshop are pleased to announce that the Workshop is open to all interested parties and therefore, not limited to operating companies only. AGA Transmission Integrity Management WorkshopJune 13-14, 2017Omni Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA…
California Proposed Requirements for Underground Gas Storage Projects
Title 14, Chapter 4 On May 19th, the Department of Conservation (DOC) proposed new regulations to further enhance the safe operation of natural gas storage facilities in California. “We believe these will be seen as the most comprehensive and stringent regulations for underground gas storage in the nation,” said Ken Harris, who as State Oil…
Pipeline Pressure Testing Workshop: June 20 – 21, 2017
RCP is now offering a 2-day Pipeline Pressure Testing Workshop at its facilities in downtown Houston. The workshop will begin by outlining the objectives for performing a pressure test and how those relate to DOT requirements. The workshop will then build upon these foundations to answer many specific pressure testing questions including: What are the…
Summer 2017 Pipeline Conference Schedule
Have you registered and confirmed your reservations for these upcoming conferences? RCP will be attending the following conferences. We hope to see you there! ILTA’s 2017 International Operating Conference & Trade ShowJune 12-14, 2017George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas The International Liquid Terminals Association (ILTA) annual international operating conference and trade show offers…
Advisory Committee Vacancies – Request for Nominations
[Docket No. PHMSA-2016-0033] PHMSA is requesting nominations for individuals to serve on the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC), also known as the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee, and the Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committee (LPAC), also known as the Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee. Each committee is composed of 15 members each appointed by…
Fundamentals of Pipeline Operations Workshop
September 13-14, 2017 Join us September 13-14, 2017 in Houston at our corporate office and dedicated training facility for this new workshop on the fundamentals of pipeline operations. This 2-day course is designed to give a comprehensive overview of gas and liquid energy transmission pipelines and how they are operated and maintained. It is appropriate…
PHMSA VIS Meeting Notice
[Docket No. PHMSA-2016-0128] PHMSA held a public meeting of the Voluntary Information-Sharing System (VIS) Working Group on June 29th and 30th to continue the discussion on the need for, and the identification of, a voluntary information-sharing system. The meeting documents presented will be available on the meeting website and posted on the E-Gov website under…
PHMSA Conducts 2nd GPAC Meeting for Safety of Gas Transmission & Gathering Pipelines NPRM
PHMSA conducted the 2nd Gas Piping Advisory Committee (GPAC) meeting to discuss certain elements of the gas transmission and gathering NPRM. All presentations and transcripts can be found here. The GPAC voted on the following NPRM topics: Corrosion Control – 192.319; Subpart I; Appendix D; 192.935(f) & (g) Records – 192.13(e); 192.5(d); 192.67; 192.127; 192.205;…
PHMSA Develops New Online Code of Federal Regulations Mobile Application
PHMSA has developed a new online Code of Federal Regulations (oCFR) mobile application. The oCFR app was released to both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store for use on iOS and Android mobile devices, and is free. The oCFR app provides the ability to search, view and navigate PHMSA’s Hazardous Materials Regulations in…
Underground Gas Storage Compliance
How does RCP deliver a comprehensive solution for natural gas storage operational integrity assurance? Experienced Resources Highly respected underground storage & risk management SME’s (the past Chair of PRCI’s and AGA’s underground storage committees is on our staff) Professional engineering support Written program development / improvement from knowledgeable technical standards developers (Our lead technical writer…
PHMSA’s UGS Petition for Reconsideration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2016-0016] On December 19, 2016, PHMSA issued its Underground Natural Gas Storage (UGS) Interim Final Rule (IFR) regulations. The rules apply to all existing and newly constructed underground natural gas storage facilities including solution mined salt caverns, depleted reservoirs, and aquifer storage facilities. The IFR incorporates by reference two API RPs: (1) API…
Meanwhile, Back on the Farm…
According to the PHMSA Pipeline enforcement activity website, PHMSA has initiated 125 new enforcement cases in the first 6 months of 2017 (for an annual rate of 250 cases a year). This compares to 164 cases in 2016, 197 cases in 2015, and 154 cases in 2014. The lesson is clear. While new rulemaking activity…
Be on the Lookout for 811 Day Events in Your Area
811 is the nationwide number that excavators can call to reach their local “one call” center, which alerts the operators of buried utilities in the planned excavation area to go out and mark the location of their facilities (such as pipelines) before the excavator starts digging. The 811 system is similar to the better-known 911…
PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Forum
Research Announcement (RA) # DTPH56-17-RA-00002 The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) is now soliciting for new pipeline safety research, white papers on individual projects addressing key pipeline challenges, and cover emerging areas of underground natural gas storage and LNG. The November 2016 Pipeline R&D Forum identified several technical gaps as potential new research…
Underground Gas Storage Compliance
How does RCP deliver a comprehensive solution for natural gas storage operational integrity assurance? Experienced Resources Highly respected underground storage & risk management SME’s (the past Chair of PRCI’s and AGA’s underground storage committees is on our staff) Professional engineering support Written program development / improvement from knowledgeable technical standards developers (Our lead technical writer…
PHMSA Extends Due Date for UGS Annual Report Submission
PHMSA is extending the due date for the first submission of the annual report for Underground Natural Gas Storage facilities. PHMSA regulations at 49 CFR 191.17 require operators of underground natural gas storage facilities to submit an annual report by July 18, 2017. PHMSA is extending the due date for the submission of Calendar Year…
Fundamentals of Pipeline Operations Workshop
September 13-14, 2017 Join us September 13-14, 2017 in Houston at our corporate office and dedicated training facility for this new workshop on the fundamentals of pipeline operations. This 2-day course is designed to give a comprehensive overview of gas and liquid energy transmission pipelines and how they are operated and maintained. It is appropriate…