We have posted the latest edition of the Research and Special Program Administration’s (RSPA’s) newsletter RSPA Results here. It contains information about all of RSPA’s programs, including those in the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). Of special interest is the article on OPS enforcement activities and productivity targets.
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Small Liquid Pipeline Integrity Management Deadlines
Just a reminder for those Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Operators with less than 500 miles of pipelines. The initial compliance deadline for identifying segments that could effect HCA’s is only about 6 weeks away (November 18, 2002). The deadline to have the final written plan in place is February 18, 2003. OPS has given a lot…
Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Operator Annual Report Form NPRM: extension of comment period
RSPA has extended the period for public comment from September 24, 2002, to November 22, 2002, on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2002, requiring an annual report for hazardous liquid pipeline operators (proposed form RSPA F7000-1.1). (See our August, 2002 newsletter here.) On July 26, 2002,…
Revised SPCC Requirements and RCP SPCC Workshops
RCP has scheduled several 1-day workshops on the EPA’s revised Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Plan regulations (published July 17th, 2002, effective August 16th, 2002). If your facility stores more than 55 gallons of oil in a single container, these revisions could affect you! Click here to view a list of locations and find out…
Advisory Bulletin: Safety of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Distribution Systems
On September 5, 2002, the RSPA issued an advisory bulletin concerning the safety of LPG distribution systems. On September 1, 2002 a propane gas explosion leveled a house in Snow Hill, MD. An employee of the local gas distribution company was killed and 17 emergency responders and others were injured, four critically. The accident is…
Advisory Bulletin RE: Updated Notifications to National Response Center
The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has issued an advisory to owners and operators of gas distribution, gas transmission, and hazardous liquid pipeline systems, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. Owners and operators should ensure that telephonic reports of incidents to the National Response Center (NRC) are both prompt and accurate and fully communicate the…
Misc. Recommendations To Change Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards
RSPA is proposing to change some of the safety standards for hazardous liquid and carbon dioxide pipelines. The changes are based on recommendations by the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR). The changes will improve the clarity and effectiveness of the present standards, such as: Specify a 6 month re-qualification requirement for welders; Specify…
NTSB Report on Bellingham Pipeline Accident
The National Transportation Safety Board has released their final report on the June 10, 1999 Bellingham, Washington pipeline accident. It can be downloaded from: www.NTSB.gov/Publictn/P_Acc.htm. This accident has been a major factor in the subsequent Pipeline Integrity Management rulemakings for liquid pipelines. The NTSB’s executive summary states: The Safety Board determines that the probable cause…
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Workshop, Better Stakeholder Involvement: How To Make It Work
The Office of Energy Projects will host the third workshop in its second phase of its “Better Stakeholder Involvement-How to Make it Work” series on Thursday, November 21, 2002 at the Doubletree Riverfront Hotel, 50 Warren Street, Lowell, Massachusetts 01852, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The phone number at the hotel is 978-452-1200. You…
Minerals Management Service (MMS) – Corrections to abandonment regulations
On October 30, 2002, the MMS published corrections to the final regulations decommissioning activities, and included requirements for plugging a well, decommissioning a platform and pipeline, and clearing a lease site, originally published on Friday, May 17, 2002 (67 FR 35398). The final regulations that are the subject of these corrections add a new subpart…
Texas Railroad Commission – Proposed Rule on Discontinuance of Service
The Railroad Commission of Texas proposes new rule 16 TAC 8.340, relating to Discontinuance of Service, which applies when a natural gas service customer ceases taking service at a particular location. The proposed new rule supplements the federal pipeline safety rule, found at 49 CFR 192.727(d), and provides more detailed direction to providers of natural…
National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) triennial exercise schedule for 2003, 2004, and 2005.
The Coast Guard, the Research and Special Programs Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minerals Management Service, in concert with representatives from various State governments, industry, environmental interest groups, and the general public, developed the Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) Guidelines to reflect the consensus agreement of the entire oil spill response community.…
Revised SPCC Requirements and RCP SPCC Workshops
RCP has scheduled several 1-day workshops on the EPA’s revised Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Plan regulations (published July 17th, 2002, effective August 16th, 2002). If your facility stores more than 55 gallons of oil in a single container, these revisions could affect you! Click here to view a list of locations and find out…
OPS Advisory re: Gas Gathering Line Delineation
OPS recently released an advisory concerning the definition of gas gathering lines, which reads in part: Until OPS completes its rulemaking to better define natural gas gathering lines (Docket No. RSPA-98-4868), OPS will continue to classify lines according to the four-point standard established through court precedent and historical interpretation. OPS will also continue to classify…
Vessel and Facility Response Plans for Oil: 2003 Removal Equipment Requirements and Alternative Technology Revisions
The Coast Guard is proposing changes to its requirements for oil-spill removal equipment under vessel response plans and marine transportation-related facility response plans. These changes would increase the minimum available spill removal equipment required for tank vessels and facilities, add requirements for new response technologies, and clarify methods and procedures for responding to oil spills…
Extension of Existing Information Collection on OPA plans
Research and Special Programs Administration’s (RSPA) intends to request extension of an information collection in support of the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) for Response Plans for Onshore Oil Pipelines. (approval number 2137-0589.) Operators are invited to submit comments on whether collecting information on response plans for onshore oil pipelines is burdensome, and other factors…
New Pipeline Safety Legislation
The House and Senate have approved new pipeline safety legislation, called the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002. Among other things, the bill will: Establish self-implementing requirements for gas pipeline integrity management programs (gas pipeline operators will be required to establish integrity management programs by certain deadlines, even if the DOT’s regulations are not promulgated…
Advisory Bulletin: Notification of the Susceptibility To Premature Brittle-Like Cracking of Older Plastic Pipe
RSPA has issued a follow-up advisory bulletin to owners and operators of natural gas distribution systems to inform them of the susceptibility to premature brittle-like cracking of older plastic pipe and the voluntary efforts to collect and analyze data on plastic pipe performance. In recent years, brittle-like cracking has been observed in some polyethylene pipes…
Homeland Security Department Organization
The new Homeland Security Department approved by Congress on November 19, 2002 will combine 22 agencies, 170,000 employees, and run with a budget of approximately $38 billion. Headed by a Secretary of Homeland Security, it will have four main divisions, each headed by an undersecretary. The following is a complete list of the agencies moving…
Correction to Hazardous Liquid Corrosion Rule
The DOT / OPS has corrected the hazardous liquid pipeline corrosion rule (66 FR 66994, December 27, 2001), by reformatting the table in � 195.573 (c) to clarify that rectifiers, reverse current switches, diodes, and interference bonds whose failure would jeopardize structural protection should all be checked 6 times each calendar year, but with intervals…