RCP is planning a two day Operator Qualification seminar on November 14-15, 2000 in Houston, Texas. This will be a "hands-on" workshop, and attendance will be limited to ensure adequate time for individual questions and breakout group activities. Topics to be covered will include:

• Overview of the OQ rule
• Key decisions that must be made concerning your OQ program
• How to define your tasks
• How to establish qualification guidelines and criteria
• Developing a company-specific task list
• Taking credit for what you have already done
• Developing your final OQ program

Group and multi-day discounts available. For more information on the seminar, please contact Bill Byrd at wrbyrd@your-rcp.com, phone 225-229-8080, or visit our seminar website at http://www.your-rcp.com/dotseminar2000.htm. You can also download a seminar brochure in .pdf format by going here (Requires Adobe Acrobat)

EPA has entered into a consent agreement with NEXTLINK Communications, Inc. and its subsidiaries to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act ("CWA"), and its implementing regulations. NEXTLINK failed to prepare Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure ("SPCC") plans for eleven facilities where they stored diesel oil in above ground tanks. NEXTLINK Communications, Inc. disclosed, pursuant to the EPA's Incentives for Self-Policing: Discovery, Disclosures, Correction and Prevention of Violations" ("Audit Policy"), 60 FR 66706 (December 22, 1995), that they failed to prepare SPCC plans for these facilities, in violation of the CWA section 311(b)(3) and 40 CFR Part 112. EPA determined that NEXTLINK met the criteria set out in the Audit Policy for a 100% waiver of the gravity component of the penalty. As a result, EPA waived the gravity based penalty ($43,856.30) and proposed a settlement penalty amount of three thousand, six hundred and three ($3,603.00). This is the amount of the economic benefit gained by NEXTLINK, attributable to their delayed compliance with the SPCC regulations. NEXTLINK Communications, Inc. has agreed to pay this amount in civil penalties. EPA and NEXTLINK negotiated and signed an administrative consent agreement, following the Consolidated Rules of Procedure, 40 CFR 22.13 , on September 7, 2000 (In Re: NEXTLINK Communications, Inc., Docket No. MM-HQ-2000-0004). This consent agreement is subject to public notice and comment under CWA section 311(b)(6), 33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(6).

Acquiring a pipeline?

RCP can provide due diligence audits to help you ensure that potential compliance issues have been addressed before the sale is final.

API Publication 1161, Guidance Document for the Qualification of Liquid Pipeline Personnel, First Edition:

The purpose of this publication is to provide guidance to the liquids pipeline industry. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT), Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), requires that pipeline operators develop a written qualification program to evaluate personnel and contractor ability to perform covered tasks and to recognize and respond to abnormal operating conditions that may be encountered while performing these covered tasks. This is a performance-based qualification program.

This publication includes a detailed discussion of the rule, as well as the seven elements required, and a list of the compliance deadlines. Also included are a quick reference list of covered tasks, and an expanded covered task list for liquid pipelines.

Publication 1161 represents the consensus position of the pipeline companies involved in the development of this document and is designed as an aid in developing a qualification program.

This is a guidance document and should not be interpreted as a standard or recommended practice.

Copies of API Publ 1161, First Edition, may be purchased for $150.00 each. API members receive a 50% discount on orders. To order, complete the order form and fax to (202) 962-4776 or write to the Order Desk, American Petroleum Institute, 1220 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005-4070, or telephone (202) 682-8375.

First Edition, August, 2000 Pipeline Segment Pages: 102 Price: $150.00 Order No. D11611

To obtain a free copy of the 2000 API Publications, Programs, and Services Catalog, call (202) 682-8375. Or, go here: http://www.api.org/cat/pubcat.cgi?doccode=2693

The Integrity Management Communication Team will meet to discuss the content and delivery of pipeline information to be conveyed to local officials and members of the public in or near high consequence areas on October 10, 2000, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The topics for discussion for this meeting include discussions of the following: Information that is needed by various groups: landowners/tenants along pipeline rights-of-way; local and regional emergency response officials; excavators and the general public; review of existing materials used by pipeline operators for public education; results from a public awareness survey conducted by the American Petroleum Institute and focus groups sponsored by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America; Office of Pipeline Safety website materials; information currently available under the Freedom of Information Act; and pending pipeline legislative proposals for community right-to-know.

Members of the public may attend the meeting at the Department of Transportation, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Room 3200, Washington, DC 20590.

Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board has scheduled a Pipeline Safety Hearing for November 15 and 16, 2000. The hearing will be held in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W. Washington, D.C.

The Pipeline Safety Hearing will provide a forum to examine technologies available to assess the integrity of pipelines, such as the use of internal inspection tools, and the capability of pipeline operating systems to identify leaks and to prompt timely responses. The hearing will also seek to determine the status of ongoing research in these areas.

This hearing was prompted by the Safety Board's past investigations of numerous pipeline accidents in which pipe with time-related defects failed, and the Safety Board's current investigations of six pipeline accidents that have occurred in 1999 and 2000, which include potential pipeline integrity issues. Five of those six accidents involve controllers who may have failed to promptly recognize pipeline ruptures and then initiate timely action to reduce the consequences of the spill.

Recent accidents under investigation by the Board include pipeline failures in Bellingham, Washington on June 10, 1999 – in which three youths lost their lives after a spill of about 250,000 gallons of gasoline – and in Carlsbad, New Mexico on August 19, 2000 – in which a 30-inch natural gas pipeline violently ruptured near the Pecos River. Preliminary examination of the pipeline section that failed in Carlsbad revealed significant internal corrosion and pipe wall loss in some areas greater than 50 percent. This section of pipe was almost 50 years old. The Carlsbad accident resulted in 12 fatalities – the deadliest pipeline accident in the continental United States in almost 25 years.

Many of the hazardous liquid and natural gas transmission pipelines in our country are 30 to 50 years old. Although age alone does not indicate that a pipeline may be unsafe, determining the integrity of pipelines becomes increasingly important as our pipeline systems age.

In announcing the hearing, Jim Hall, Safety Board Chairman, said: "The safe transportation of natural gas and liquid petroleum products by pipeline is vital to meeting the energy needs of every community in our country. However, during the past two years, we have seen several failures involving aging pipelines. It is time to examine the technologies available to assess the condition of our pipeline systems."

Because of the importance of this national safety issue, the Chairman and all four Board Members will preside over the hearing.

Details of the hearing will be found on the Board's web page in the near future at http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2000/pipeline_hearing/default.htm.

NTSB press contact: Keith Holloway, 202-314-6100

The full text of the press release is available on RCP's website here

The Dig Safely Team will meet in New Orleans on November 15, 2000 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The meeting location has not been established. Agenda items will include: strategic plan for Dig Safely; nationwide and stakeholder industry focus areas; Dig Safely Awareness Video distribution model; handling of Dig Safely funding contributions; others. Final agenda will be posted in advance of the meeting here.

Pending Audits?