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In This Issue

  1. DOT/OPS Issues Final Gas Pipeline Integrity Management Rule
  2. Integrity Management Plan Up-to-Date?
  3. Stress Corrosion Cracking Meeting Materials
  4. OCS Rights-of-Use and Easement and Pipeline Rights-of-Way
  5. Periodic Underwater Inspections: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
  6. Need A HAZMAT Security Plan?
  7. Notice of Minimum Annual Percentage Rate for Random Drug Testing
  8. Reorganization of the Office of Pipeline Safety
  9. NESHAP – Bulk Gasoline Terminals and Pipeline Breakout Stations
  10. O&M Manual Up-To-Date?
  11. Advisory Bulletin (ADB-03-09) Re: Potential Service Disruptions in SCADA Systems
  12. The Texas Railroad Commission to Hold the 54th Annual State of the Industry Meeting
  13. Texas Railroad Commission to begin Formulation of Texas Energy Plan
  14. Acquiring a pipeline?
  15. OPS, PRCI and GTI Hosts Pipeline R&D; Forum
  16. TCEQ Releases 2003 Enforcement Report
  17. API Recommended Practice 1162: Public Awareness Programs for Pipeline Operators Finalized
  18. Need to update your Public Awareness Program?
  19. Drug and Alcohol Management Information System Reporting
  20. Pipeline Safety: Meetings of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Committees [Docket No. RSPA-98-4470]
  21. RCP Services Spotlight – Pipeline Integrity Management

Reorganization of the Office of Pipeline Safety

(or: RSPA to RITA, OPS to FRPA, PDQ!)

The Secretary of the Department of Transportation intends to reorganize the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA). RSPA currently houses several functions that relate to operations (such as the Office of Pipeline Safety), and bear little relation to the basic research functions of that Administration. Similarly, several of the important research and analytical capabilities that could better support RSPA’s research programs are fragmented in other parts of the Department. The reorganization will transform the existing RSPA into a new organization within the Department, to be designated as the Research and Innovative Technology Administration or (RITA).

Meanwhile, the Office of Pipeline Safety will move from RSPA to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which would be renamed the Federal Railroad and Pipeline Administration (FRPA). There are three main reasons for this new alignment:

  1. Rail and pipelines are fixed transportation structures, and in some cases, they share the same rights of way.
  2. The pipeline system looks and operates more like the rail system than any other mode of transportation.
  3. Both FRA and the Office of Pipeline Safety focus on safety regulation, enforcement and penalty collection issues. The ability of the Office of Pipeline Safety to perform those functions will be improved by placing its program within an Administration with long experience in those areas.

The initial steps toward rolling out this proposal are being taken, but a great deal has yet to be done. The Secretary would like to begin operating under the new plan no later than early next fiscal year.