[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 88 (Monday, May 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26822-26824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10866]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0068]
Pipeline Safety: Verification of Records
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),
DOT.
ACTION: Notice; Issuance of Advisory Bulletin.
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SUMMARY: PHMSA is issuing an Advisory Bulletin to remind operators of
gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities to verify their records
relating to operating specifications for maximum allowable operating
pressure (MAOP) required by 49 CFR 192.517 and maximum operating
pressure (MOP) required by 49 CFR 195.310. This Advisory Bulletin
informs gas operators of anticipated changes in annual reporting
requirements to document the confirmation of MAOP, how they will be
required to report total mileage and mileage with adequate records,
when they must report, and what PHMSA considers an adequate record. In
addition, this Advisory Bulletin informs hazardous liquid operators of
adequate records for the confirmation of MOP.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Gale by phone at 202-366-0434 or
by email at [email protected]. Information about PHMSA may be found at
http://phmsa.dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On January 10, 2011, PHMSA issued Advisory Bulletin 11-01. This
Advisory Bulletin reminded operators that if they are relying on the
review of design, construction, inspection, testing and other related
data to establish MAOP and MOP, they must ensure that the records used
are reliable, traceable, verifiable, and complete. If such a document
and records search, review, and verification cannot be satisfactorily
completed, the operator cannot rely on this method for calculating MAOP
or MOP and must instead rely on another method as allowed in 49 CFR
192.619 or 49 CFR 195.406.
Section 192.619 currently contains four methods for establishing
MAOP: (1) The design pressure of the weakest element in the segment;
(2) pressure testing; (3) the highest actual operating pressure in the
five years prior to the segment becoming subject to regulation under
Part 192; and (4) the maximum safe pressure considering the history of
the segment, particularly known corrosion and the actual operating
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pressure. The third method, often referred to as the ``grandfather
clause,'' allows pipelines that had safely operated prior to the
pipeline safety MAOP regulations to continue to operate under similar
conditions without retroactively applying recordkeeping requirements or
requiring pressure tests.
Many of the pipelines being newly subjected to safety regulation in
the 1970's were relatively new and had demonstrated a safe operating
history. PHMSA is now considering whether these pipelines should be
pressure tested to verify continued safe MAOP. In its August 20, 2011,
accident investigation report on the September 9, 2010, Pacific Gas and
Electric Company natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and fire,
the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that PHMSA
should:
Amend Title 49 CFR 192.619 to delete the grandfather clause and
require that all gas transmission pipelines constructed before 1970
be subjected to a hydrostatic pressure test that incorporates a
spike test. (P-11-14)
PHMSA will be addressing this recommendation in a future
rulemaking.
On January 3, 2012, President Obama signed the Pipeline Safety,
Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (Act), which
requires PHMSA to direct each owner or operator of a gas transmission
pipeline and associated facilities to provide verification that their
records accurately reflect MAOP of their pipelines within Class 3 and
Class 4 locations and in Class 1 and Class 2 locations in High
Consequence Areas (HCAs). Beginning in 2013, PHMSA intends to require
operators to submit data regarding verification of records in these
class locations via the Gas Transmission and Gathering Systems Annual
Report.
Operators of both gas and hazardous liquid pipelines should review
their records to determine whether they are adequate to support
operating parameters and conditions on their pipeline systems or if
additional action is needed to confirm those parameters and assure
safety. The Research and Special Programs Administration and the
Materials Transportation Bureau, PHMSA's predecessor agencies,
recognized the importance of verifying MAOP. Prior to 1996, there was a
regulatory requirement titled: ``Initial Determination of Class
Location and Confirmation or Establishment of Maximum Allowable
Operating Pressure'' at 49 CFR 192.607. This regulation required
operators to confirm the MAOP on their systems relative to class
locations no later than January 1, 1973. The regulatory requirement was
removed in 1996 because the compliance dates had long since passed.
PHMSA believes documentation that was used to confirm MAOP in
compliance with this requirement may be useful in the current
verification effort.
Advisory Bulletin (ADB-2012-06)
To: Owners and Operators of Gas and Hazardous Liquid Pipeline
Systems.
Subject: Verification of Records Establishing MAOP and MOP.
Advisory: As directed in the Act, PHMSA will require each owner or
operator of a gas transmission pipeline and associated facilities to
verify that their records confirm MAOP of their pipelines within Class
3 and Class 4 locations and in Class 1 and Class 2 locations in HCAs.
PHMSA intends to require gas pipeline operators to submit data
regarding mileage of pipelines with verifiable records and mileage of
pipelines without records in the annual reporting cycle for 2013. On
April 13, 2012, (77 FR 22387) PHMSA published a Federal Register Notice
titled: ``Information Collection Activities, Revision to Gas
Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Annual Report, Gas
Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Incident Report, and
Hazardous Liquid Pipelines Systems Accident Report.'' PHMSA plans to
use information from the 2013 Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline
Systems Annual Report to develop potential rulemaking for cases in
which the records of the owner or operator are insufficient to confirm
the established MAOP of a pipeline segment within Class 3 and Class 4
locations and in Class 1 and Class 2 locations in HCAs. Owners and
operators should consider the guidance in this advisory for all
pipeline segments and take action as appropriate to assure that all
MAOP and MOP are supported by records that are traceable, verifiable
and complete.
Information needed to support establishment of MAOP and MOP is
identified in Sec. 192.619, Sec. 192.620 and Sec. 195.406. An owner
or operator of a pipeline must meet the recordkeeping requirements of
Part 192 and Part 195 in support of MAOP and MOP determination.
Traceable records are those which can be clearly linked to original
information about a pipeline segment or facility. Traceable records
might include pipe mill records, purchase requisition, or as-built
documentation indicating minimum pipe yield strength, seam type, wall
thickness and diameter. Careful attention should be given to records
transcribed from original documents as they may contain errors.
Information from a transcribed document, in many cases, should be
verified with complementary or supporting documents.
Verifiable records are those in which information is confirmed by
other complementary, but separate, documentation. Verifiable records
might include contract specifications for a pressure test of a line
segment complemented by pressure charts or field logs. Another example
might include a purchase order to a pipe mill with pipe specifications
verified by a metallurgical test of a coupon pulled from the same pipe
segment. In general, the only acceptable use of an affidavit would be
as a complementary document, prepared and signed at the time of the
test or inspection by an individual who would have reason to be
familiar with the test or inspection.
Complete records are those in which the record is finalized as
evidenced by a signature, date or other appropriate marking. For
example, a complete pressure testing record should identify a specific
segment of pipe, who conducted the test, the duration of the test, the
test medium, temperatures, accurate pressure readings, and elevation
information as applicable. An incomplete record might reflect that the
pressure test was initiated, failed and restarted without conclusive
indication of a successful test. A record that cannot be specifically
linked to an individual pipe segment is not a complete record for that
segment. Incomplete or partial records are not an adequate basis for
establishing MAOP or MOP. If records are unknown or unknowable, a more
conservative approach is indicated.
PHMSA is aware that other types of records may be acceptable and
that certain state programs may have additional requirements. Operators
should ensure all records establish confidence in the validity of the
records. If a document and records search, review, and verification
cannot be satisfactorily completed to meet the need for traceable,
verifiable, and complete records, the operator may need to conduct
other activities such as in-situ examination, measuring yield and
tensile strength, pressure testing, and nondestructive testing or
otherwise verify the characteristics of the pipeline to support a MAOP
or MOP determination.
PHMSA is supportive of the use of alternative technologies to
verify pipe characteristics. Owners and operators seeking to use
alternative or non-traditional technologies in the determination of
MAOP or MOP, or to
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meet other regulatory requirements, should first discuss the proposed
approach with the appropriate state or Federal regulatory agencies to
determine its acceptability under regulatory requirements.
PHMSA will issue more direction regarding how operators will be
required to bring into compliance gas and hazardous liquid pipelines
without verifiable records for the entire mileage of the pipeline.
Further details will also be provided on the manner in which PHMSA
intends to require operators to reestablish MAOP as discussed in
Section 23(a) of the Act.
Finally, PHMSA notes that on September 26, 2011, NTSB issued
Recommendation P-11-14: Eliminating Grandfather Clause. Section
192.619(a)(3) allows gas transmission operators to establish MAOP of
pipe installed before July 1, 1970, by use of records noting the
highest actual operating pressure to which the segment was subjected
during the five years preceding July 1, 1970. NTSB Recommendation P-11-
14 requests that PHMSA delete Sec. 192.619(a)(3), also known as the
``grandfather clause,'' and require gas transmission pipeline operators
to reestablish MAOP using hydrostatic pressure testing. PHMSA reminds
operators that this recommendation will be acted upon following the
collection of data, including information from the 2013 Gas
Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Annual Report, which will
allow PHMSA to determine the impact of the requested change on the
public and industry in conformance with our statutory obligations.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 1, 2012.
Alan K. Mayberry,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Field Operations.
[FR Doc. 2012-10866 Filed 5-4-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P