On April 5, 2002, RSPA published a proposed rule to address producer-operated natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines that cross into State waters without first connecting to a transporting operator’s facility on the OCS. This proposed rule would also address the procedures by which producer operators could petition for approval to operate under RSPA regulations…
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Integrity Management FAQ
Editor’s note: This and all other Frequently Asked Questions about the Pipeline Integrity Management rule can be found at: http://primis.rspa.dot.gov/iim/faqs.htm. 12.6 Will OPS review operator notifications and formally respond to the operator? Will OPS communicate responses to specific company notifications to the broader industry? OPS expects to review all notifications received from operators. A centralized…
Development of Consensus Standards on Pipeline Public Awareness Programs
Editor’s note: The following is reproduced essentially verbatim from the May 15, 2002 Federal Register, since many of our readers are probably interested in the complete notice.) Trade associations for the natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry are working together to develop consensus standards to expand the public awareness programs that pipeline operators conduct,…
Pipeline Safety Reports of Abandoned Underwater Pipelines
The Pipeline Safety Act (49 U.S.C. 60108(c)(6)(B)) directs the Secretary of Transportation to require operators of an offshore pipeline facility or a pipeline crossing navigable waters to report the abandonment to the Secretary of Transportation in a way that specifies whether the facility has been abandoned properly according to applicable Federal and State requirements. RSPA’s…
OPS workshop on Pipeline Integrity Management
OPS will conduct a workshop on Pipeline Integrity Management on July 23, 2002, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and July 24, 2002, from 8 a.m. to noon, at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, 5150 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77056 (tel: 713-961-1500 fax: 713-961-5045). The purpose of this workshop is to assist operators in learning where…
Upcoming RCP Seminars
RCP will conduct a 1 day workshop on Pipeline Integrity Management on July 22 in Houston. This one day workshop is an excellent introduction to the Pipeline Integrity Management regulations, and has been scheduled for the day prior to OPS’s PIM workshop in Houston (note that the OPS workshop will assume that the attendees already…
EPA Promotes Environmental Management Systems
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman has issued the Agency’s Position Statement on Environmental Management Systems (EMS). The statement promotes broader use of the systems, which are effective management tools to help companies and other organizations fulfill their environmental responsibilities. The use of EMS complements needed regulatory controls and enables a facility to comprehensively manage…
Advisory Notice Regarding Safe Excavation Practices
On May 17, 2002, RSPA issued the following advisory notice to operators of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines to remind them of the importance of safe excavation practices. It makes reference to The Common Ground Study, which can be viewed on line at www.commongroundalliance.com. Advisory Bulletin (ADB-02-01) To: Owners and Operators of Natural Gas…
TNRCC Changing Name to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Beginning September 1, 2002, the TNRCC will formally change its name and begin doing business as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or the TCEQ. The name change is required by our Sunset legislation, House Bill 2912. The Texas Legislature felt that the new name is shorter and gives people a better sense of the…
Revised Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline Incident and Annual Report Forms
RSPA/OPS has revised the incident and annual report forms for natural gas transmission pipelines to improve the usefulness of the reported data. The failure cause categories have been expanded from five to 25 on the incident report. The annual report form includes two new sections: (1) Mileage by decade of installation and (2) mileage by…
Effluent Limitation Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards for the Construction and Development Category; Proposed Rule
EPA is proposing a range of options to address storm water discharges from construction sites. As one option, EPA is proposing technology-based effluent limitation guidelines and standards (ELGs) for storm water discharges from construction sites required to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. As another option, EPA is proposing not to establish ELGs…
OPS workshop on Pipeline Integrity Management
OPS will conduct a workshop on Pipeline Integrity Management on July 23, 2002, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and July 24, 2002, from 8 a.m. to noon, at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, 5150 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77056 (tel: 713-961-1500 fax: 713-961-5045). The purpose of this workshop is to assist operators in learning where…
Upcoming RCP Seminars
RCP will conduct a 1 day workshop on Pipeline Integrity Management on July 22, 2002, in Houston. This one day workshop is an excellent introduction to the Pipeline Integrity Management regulations, and has been scheduled for the day prior to OPS’s PIM workshop in Houston (note that the OPS workshop will assume that the attendees…
Meeting of the Gas Pipeline Safety Advisory Committee
A meeting of the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (TPSSC), the gas pipeline advisory committee, will be held on Thursday, July 18, 2002, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Washington, DC. The TPSSC will be advising the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) and voting on the proposed definition of High Consequence Areas (HCA) for…
Draft Regulatory Evaluation of Gas Pipeline Integrity Management Rule
RSPA has posted the draft regulatory evaluation of their proposed Gas Pipeline Integrity Management rule on their website here. RSPA has indicated that they plan to have the final rule adopted sometime this year. The draft regulatory evaluation is a rather lengthy document to view in a web browser. RCP has prepared a formatted and…
Pipeline Safety: Gas and Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Mapping
The Research and Special Programs Administration’s (RSPA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) issued an advisory to gas distribution, gas transmission, and hazardous liquid pipeline systems. Owners and operators should review their information and mapping systems to ensure that the operator has clear, accurate, and useable information on the location and characteristics of all pipes, valves,…
High Consequence Areas For Gas Transmission Pipelines – Final Rule
On August 6, 2002, RSPA published the final rule defining high consequence for gas pipelines. The definition includes: current class 3 and 4 locations; facilities with persons who are mobility-impaired, confined, or hard to evacuate, and places where people gather for recreational and other purposes. For facilities with mobility-impaired, confined, or hard-to-evacuate persons and places…
OPS Job Openings
Editor’s note: our thanks to Ben Cooper at AOPL for informing us about this, which is repeated from AOPL’s newsletter: OPS this week posted notice of seven position vacancies, five of which will be new positions in OPS regional offices. The regional positions are to provide technical and communications services to protect underground utilities (specifically pipelines)…
FERC Workshop; Better Stakeholder Involvement: How to Make It Work
The Office of Energy Projects is continuing the second phase of its Better Stakeholder Involvement Series with a workshop to be held in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, August 8, 2002 at the Red Lion Hotel Denver Central, 4040 Quebec Street, Denver, Colorado 80216, phone number 1-303-321-6666. Interstate natural gas companies; Federal, state and local agencies; landowners…
API Training and Development Conference
The American Petroleum Institute will conduct the API Gulf Coast Training & Development Conference at Moody Gardens Hotel at 7 Hope Boulevard in Galveston, TX 77554, October 23-25, 2002. The conference program will provide you with tools to help meet industry’s many challenges and a chance to have fun doing it in a beautiful, tropical setting! Don’t…