The DOT assesses and collects user fees to fund pipeline safety program activities. Annual fiscal year appropriations normally form the basis of the user fee assessments that are deposited in the Pipeline Safety Fund (PSF). The PSF provides the funding for DOT’s pipeline safety activities, including the daily operations and program activities of the Office…
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Proposed NPDES General Permit for Storm Water Discharges From Construction Activities
EPA Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 today are proposing EPA’s NPDES general permits for discharges from large and small construction activity. The proposed permit will replace the existing permit covering large construction sites in EPA Regions 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10 that expires on February 17,…
Environmental Report Preparation and Post-Certificate Environmental Compliance Training Seminars
The FERC Office of Energy Projects (OEP) staff will conduct five sessions of its Environmental Report Preparation Seminar, as well as five sessions of the Post-Certificate Environmental Compliance Seminar, throughout 2003. The training seminars will be delivered by FERC staff and consultants with significant industry experience. Details on the content of both seminars and the…
DOT Pipeline Compliance Workshop – March 19-20, 2003 – Houston Includes update on the new Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 signed into law on Dec 17, 2002
RCP will conduct a 2 day workshop on DOT Pipeline Regulations on March 19th and 20th in Houston. Day 1 of this workshop will present an overview of all the current DOT regulations for pipeline operators. Day 2 will review recent regulatory initiatives such as pipeline integrity management, hazardous liquid corrosion control requirements, high consequence…
New Pipeline Safety Act – Now Law
Editor’s note: you should be wide awake when reading this, because it is very important! On Tuesday, December 17, 2002, President Bush signed the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002. This law contains several self-implementing requirements, that place certain obligations on pipeline operators whether the Office of Pipeline Safety issues additional regulations or not. This…
Operator Qualification Pipeline Industry Forum January 21 and January 23, 2003
Several industry associations and interest groups are partnering to co-sponsor a Forum on Operator Qualification at the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk – San Antonio, Texas, on January 21 and 23, 2003, in conjunction with the OPS OQ meeting on January 22, 2003 (see below for OPS meeting registration). The sponsors have organized this Forum to provide…
Qualification of Pipeline Personnel: Notice of Public Meeting
The Research and Special Programs Administration’s (RSPA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) will conduct a public meeting at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio (Riverwalk), 123 Losoya Street, San Antonio, TX 78205 (Tel: 210-222-1234; Fax: 210-227-4928; Web: www.sanantonioregency.hyatt.com) on January 22, 2003 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) to discuss progress in implementing the operator personnel qualification…
National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) Breakout Tank Submissions
The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is now accepting voluntary data submissions for “breakout” tanks under OPS jurisdiction, to the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS). OPS has developed two procedures for the submission of the data. They include an online form and a downloadable executable file that can be used to input the tank data.…
NPMS Advisory Bulletin (ADB-03-02)
The Office of Pipeline Safety recently issued the following advisory bulletin concerning submittals to the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS). The entire notice is available on RCP’s website at here through the DOT Gateway. To: Owners and Operators of Natural Gas Transmission and Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Systems. Subject: Required Submission of Data to the National…
Notice of proposed rulemaking: Pipeline Integrity Management in High Consequence Areas (Gas Transmission Pipelines)
The Research and Special Programs Administration / Office of Pipeline Safety (RSPA/OPS) proposes to establish a rule to require operators to develop integrity management programs for gas transmission pipelines that, in the event of a failure, could impact high consequence areas (HCAs). These integrity management programs would focus on requiring operators to comprehensively evaluate their…
Emergency Reconstruction of Interstate Natural Gas Facilities Under the Natural Gas Act
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is proposing to amend part 157, subpart F, of its regulations to enable natural gas interstate pipeline companies to replace mainline facilities using a route other than the existing right-of-way, and to commence construction without being subject to the 45-day prior notice proceedings specified in § 157.205 of the…
Texas GLO Oil Spill Information Transfer Meeting
The Texas General Land Office will conduct the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program’s eleventh annual Information Transfer Meeting (ITM), slated for February 21st , at 9 a.m. in room 1003 of the Natural Resources Center at Texas A&M; University – Corpus Christi. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. Program staff will provide information regarding…
New Federal Website for Comments on Rulemakings
Regulations.gov is a new U.S. Government web site that makes it easier for members of the public to participate in Federal rulemaking. On this site, you can find, review, and submit comments on Federal documents that are open for comment and published in the Federal Register, the Government’s legal newspaper. Editor’s Note: This site does…
New Louisiana Intra-state Rules for Hazardous Liquid Pipelines
The State of Louisiana recently published their latest rules for intrastate hazardous liquid pipelines. Louisiana has authority to regulate intrastate gas and liquid pipelines, and publishes their entire regulations under their own regulatory system (as opposed to some other states that just incorporate the federal rules by reference, and then publish their state-specific changes). Affected…
Updates of Digital Mapping Data for Hazardous Liquid Pipeline High Consequence Areas (HCA)
OPS has updated and revised the High Consequence Area (HCA) digital mapping datasets. Updated digital mapping data to delineate high consequence areas for use in geographic information systems is now available for high population areas, other populated areas, and commercially navigable waterways. Population information updates are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s TIGER…
API Operator Workshop on IMP Implementation
API is conducting its fifth integrity management workshop in Houston from 8 am February 18 to noon February 19, 2003. This workshop will focus on implementation and comprehensive integrity audits under the OPS protocols. The workshop is open to pipeline operators only. The fee is $150. To learn more, contact Marty Matheson at (202) 682-8192.
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition of “Waters of the United States”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in order to obtain early comment on issues associated with the scope of waters that are subject to the Clean Water Act (CWA), in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Solid…
DOT Pipeline Compliance Workshop – March 19-20, 2003 – Houston Includes update on the new Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 signed into law on Dec 17, 2002
RCP will conduct a 2-day workshop on DOT Pipeline Regulations on March 19th and 20th in Houston. Day 1 of this workshop will present an overview of all the current DOT regulations for pipeline operators. Day 2 will review recent regulatory initiatives such as pipeline integrity management, hazardous liquid corrosion control requirements, high consequence area…
RCP Develops Fantastic Version of New SPCC Regulation
RCP has developed a 1-page version (in tiny type) of the new SPCC regulations, as revised January 9, 2003. It is great for people such as your newsletter editor, who can remember where something is on a page much better than they can remember a regulatory citation number. (I admit – it is size 8…
EPA SPCC Rule Corrections
The EPA recently published some minor amendments to their new SPCC regulations. In Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 100 to 135, revised as of July 1, 2002, Appendix F to part 112 is corrected as follows: In section 1.0 paragraph B, by adding the words ”required by” before 40 CFR 112.3;…