In This Issue

Control Room Management – Deadline Modifications

On September 17, 2010, PHMSA published a Control Room Management/Human Factors notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to expedite the program implementation deadlines to August 1, 2011, for most of the requirements, except for certain provisions regarding adequate information and alarm management, which would have a program implementation deadline of August 1, 2012. That proposed rulemaking is still pending, leaving operators uncertain about which deadlines they must meet. On Thursday, March 24, the PHMSA technical advisory committees for both liquid and gas pipelines voted unanimously to support an accelerated schedule that requires plans to be completed August 1, 2011, while fatigue management and training will be implemented by August 1, 2012. PHMSA is expected to move expeditiously to finalize the rulemaking using those deadlines.