The Department of Transportation/Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will be recruiting for a Compliance Officer, reporting to the Director, Enforcement Division. This person will help develop PHMSA’s pipeline enforcement program; guide the risk-based application of pipeline safety regulations, technical consensus engineering standards and compliance practices by natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline operators; work…
April 2012
Meet me at the Conference
Have you registered and confirmed your reservations for these upcoming conferences? RCP will have representatives speaking at both API and AGA. API 2012 Pipeline Conference Phoenix, AZ | April 17 – 19 “Preventing Incidents through Accelerated Industry Learning” Bill Byrd, Speaker/Panelist Wednesday Morning, April 18 AGA Operations Conference San Francisco, CA | May 1 –…
CGA Best Practices 2012
The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) announced that the latest version, Best Practices Version 9.0, was published in March 2012 and includes all new practices approved prior to December 2011. To download a copy, or for ordering information, go the CGA website.
National Safe Digging Month
April 2012 is National Safe Digging Month, the time of year when all Common Ground Alliance (CGA) stakeholders come together to communicate how important it is that professionals and homeowners alike call 811 and follow the safe digging process to help prevent injuries, property damage and inconvenient outages. To assist damage prevention stakeholders in promoting…
Gathering Unregulated Pipeline Data GAO-12-388
On March 22, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued GAO-12-388 on Pipeline Safety, “Collecting Data and Sharing Information of Federally Unregulated Gathering Pipelines Could Help Enhance Safety.” While the safety risks of onshore gathering pipelines that are not regulated by PHMSA are generally considered to be lower than for other types of pipelines, PHMSA…
EFRD Evaluation
RCP can assist pipeline operators (both gas and liquids) with performing an emergency flow restricting device (EFRD) evaluation based on the criteria, e.g. type of leak detection installed, product transported, quantity released, local topography, etc., identified in the Integrity Management rules. §192.179 requires that intermediate valves be installed along a cross country pipeline at the…
Pipeline Safety: Public Comment on Leak and Valve Studies Mandated by the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011
[Docket ID PHMSA–2012–0021] The Department of Transportation / Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is providing an important opportunity for all stakeholders to publically comment on the scope of recently commissioned studies involving leak detection systems and valves. The recent passage of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 has…
PHMSA Advisory Bulletin (ADB–2012–05) Cast Iron Pipe
[Docket No. PHMSA–2012–0039] The Department of Transportation/Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued Advisory Bulletin ADB-2012-05 to owners and operators of natural gas cast iron distribution pipelines and state pipeline safety representatives. Recent deadly explosions in Philadelphia and Allentown, PA involving cast iron pipelines installed in 1942 and 1928, respectively, gained national attention and highlight…
MAOP Validation Services
RCP has developed a turnkey process by which pipeline operating companies will have a traceable, verifiable and complete MAOP dataset. It starts with our MAOP document review services where RCP conducts detailed reviews of relevant MAOP documents, extracts the necessary data onto our MaxOp* cover sheets and posts the data into the database for future…
Introducing MaxOp*
RCP is extremely proud to announce the launch of a web-based version of our popular MAOP calculator model. Just like the model we built to conduct MAOP studies as a service, MaxOp* is the most comprehensive MAOP tool on the market. Through a secure web service, our customers can now push their MAOP data sets…
PHMSA ADB-2012-04 Implementation of Nat’l Pipeline Registry (OPID)
[Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0001] PHMSA issued Advisory Bulletin (ADB–2012–04) to Owners and Operators of Pipeline and LNG Facilities, regarding the Implementation of the National Registry of Pipeline and LNG Operators. A full copy of this Advisory Bulletin is printed below. Please note: Effective March 27, operators can complete the validation process online. Advisory: This notice advises…
Engineering Ethics Course May 31, 2012 – Houston, TX
In support of the TBPE Outreach Program, RCP is hosting an engineering ethics course in our offices on May 31, conducted by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers. Mr. Charles Pennington, P.E., Engineer Specialist with the Board, will be the guest speaker for a presentation on, “Texas Board of Professional Engineers – Professional Practice Update…
Federal Oversight of State Pipeline Damage Prevention Programs – NPRM
[Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0192] RIN 2137–AE43 PHMSA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish the criteria and procedures for PHMSA to exercise federal oversight of state damage prevention programs, and to implement federal programs when the state programs are deemed to be inadequate. The proposed regulations would revise the Pipeline Safety Regulations to…
DOT Pipeline Compliance Workshop – May 15, 16 & 17, 2012
Join us May 15, 16 & 17 in Houston at our new office and dedicated training facility for an informative, lively, and interactive workshop on DOT Pipeline Compliance and OPA Planning for DOT Pipelines. This workshop has been attended by hundreds of pipeline personnel, with excellent feedback. The workshop provides an overview of the DOT…
AGA Emergency Response Webinar April 5, 2012
As a follow up to the release of AGA’s white paper on the “Industry Considerations for Emergency Response Plans Technical Note“, AGA has scheduled an Emergency Response Webinar. The webinar will be conducted Thursday, April 5th, 2012, 2:00-4:00 PM ET (1-3PM CT, 12-2PM MT, 11-1 PM PT). The primary intent of the webinar is to…