The API and AOPL have submitted comments to PHMSA regarding currently unregulated pipelines that operate less than 20% SMYS and are located in Unusually Sensitive Areas. If this proposal is accepted and incorporated into final rulemaking, operators of “Regulated Low Stress Pipelines” will have to develop a written program for minimizing risk of a release…
June 2006
Petroleum Gathering Lines – Rulemaking Schedule
RIN 2137-AD98 This Rulemaking would establish limited safety rules for certain rural petroleum gathering lines that could affect high consequence areas, including populated areas, navigable waterways, and areas unusually sensitive to pipeline spills. Because rural petroleum gathering lines and low stress lines are now exempt from all pipeline safety rules, except in Gulf of Mexico…
Need to Update Your Current Operator Qualification Program?
We have the expertise to update your current operator qualification program to satisfy the upcoming regulation change and inspection protocols. For more information on how RCP can support your ongoing OQ Program needs.
Hazardous Liquid Annual Report 7000-1.1
PHMSA has revised the instructions for the hazardous liquid pipeline annual report for 7000-1.1, to eliminate confusion that has lead to errors in previous reports. Specific areas of concern in previous reports, which now have more explicit instructions, include “actions taken” in response to integrity inspections, and “completed assessments”. The annual report form and revised…
The Role of Pipelines and Pipeline Research
The Pipeline Research Council International has posted a new report on the role of energy pipelines and research, entitled: The Role of Energy Pipelines and Research in the United States: Sustaining the Viability and Productivity of a National Asset. Continued pipeline research will be needed to ensure the safety and efficiency of this vital national…
Summary of PHMSA Enforcement Actions
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has prepared a summary of their enforcement actions from January 1, 2000 through March 31, 2006. This document reveals PHMSA’s increased emphasis on enforcement actions and penalties, in accordance with their multi-year roadmap for strengthening enforcement, called the Enforcement Program Performance Plan. PHMSA has developed a new enforcement…
Public Awareness Program Submittal
Pipeline operators will be required to submit their public awareness programs to PHMSA. Exactly how these programs are to be submitted, however, is still undetermined. According to PHMSA, they plan to use the following approach: “PHMSA will publish an Advisory Bulletin in the Federal Register. PHMSA will prominently post the Advisory Bulletin on its web…
B31Q Status
The new pipeline industry standard on operator qualification, ASME B31Q, has been approved and is awaiting the final procedural review from the ASME board (which should just be a formality). It should be published this summer. Once the standard is published, the Office of Pipeline Safety is expected to issue a modified Operator Qualification rule…
Technical Advisory Committee Meetings – Workshops
Dockets: PHMSA-98-4470 / PHMSA-2004-18938 / PHMSA-2004-18584 PHMSA will hold public meetings of the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (TPSSC) and Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (THLPSSC), and 2 public workshops, on June 26-28, 2006. PHMSA will hold a half day public workshop on Hazardous Liquid Low Stress Pipelines to solicit comments on a…
Will your SPCC Plan pass an EPA inspection based on the new SPCC Inspectors’ Guidance document?
RCP can conduct a gap analysis of your current SPCC Plan and provide updates and recommendations based on the new SPCC Guidance for Regional Inspectors that was published Dec. 2, 2005. The new guidance document includes more detail than is in many of the plans in use today.
Washington State – Land Use Near Existing Pipelines Report
A draft report regarding land use around existing pipelines in Washington state was recently published by the Roundtable Group. Two key contributors of note include the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and the Pipeline Safety Trust. The main focus of the report is to capture the types of communications necessary during the planning stages of…
PHMSA Administrator Confirmed
On Friday, May 26, the Senate confirmed Admiral Thomas J. Barrett as the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Barrett graduated from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School, Yorktown, Va. and was commissioned in January 1969. He served first as a deck officer, including aboard the USCG Cutter Chase (WHEC718) with deployment to…