Pipeline Safety Practice
Issue Alerts
PHMSA Issues Advisory Bulletins Regarding Leak Detection on Hazardous Liquid Pipelines and New Incident and Accident Report Forms
Susan Olenchuk, Sean JamiesonFebruary 12, 2010
The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration has recently issued two Advisory Bulletins affecting owners and operators of hazardous liquid pipelines and gas transmission, distribution and gathering systems.
PHMSA Issues Gas Distribution Integrity Management Rule
Susan Olenchuk, Shay MillerDecember 8, 2009
PHMSA has issued its final rule requiring all operators of gas distribution lines to develop and implement integrity management programs for their systems. Operators must implement their integrity management programs by August 2, 2011. PHMSA has also proposed to require pipelines to report on failure of couplings used in metal pipe. Comments on that proposal are due January 4, 2010.
New Regulations Require Pipelines to Implement Control Room Management Programs
Susan Olenchuk, Jeff WinmillDecember 7, 2009
PHMSA has adopted new regulations requiring that gas and hazardous pipeline owners develop and implement written control room management procedures designed to reduce risks associated with human factors, such as fatigue and to ensure that the management of activities in pipeline control rooms contribute to safe pipeline operations. The new regulations apply if the pipeline has a controller in a control room who monitors and controls all or part of a pipeline facility through a SCADA system. Control room management procedures must be implemented by February 1, 2012. The new regulations do not apply to owners and operators of liquefied natural gas facilities.
PHMSA Seeks Comments on the Enforcement of State Pipeline Damage Prevention Laws and Existing Regulatory Requirements Regarding Pipeline Operators’ Damage Prevention Programs
Susan Olenchuk, Adam SchicheNovember 2, 2009
PHMSA has initiated a rulemaking proceeding seeking feedback on (1) how it should determine whether a state’s enforcement of its pipeline damage prevention laws is adequate; (2) how PHMSA should enforce damage prevention requirements against excavators in states with inadequate enforcement programs; and (3) existing regulatory requirements that pipeline operators have written damage prevention programs.
PHMSA Proposes to Incorporate New and Updated Voluntary Consensus Standards into Pipeline Safety Regulations and to Clarify Certain Safety Regulations
Emily Pitlick, Susan Olenchuk, John Burnes, Meaghan Curry, Mona TandonAugust 5, 2009
On July 22, 2009 the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to incorporate 41 new and updated voluntary consensus standards into federal pipeline safety regulations. PHMSA also is proposing to clarify several regulatory requirements. Van Ness Feldman's Pipeline Safety Team has prepared an overview of the proposed rule, which will affect regulatory requirements applicable to operators of gas pipelines, LNG facilities, and hazardous liquid pipelines.