[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 231 (Friday, November 29, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60674-60675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30316]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

49 CFR Part 194

[Docket No. PS-130, Notice 4]
RIN 2137--AC30


Notice of Public Hearing; Response Plans for Onshore Oil 
Pipelines

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of 
Pipeline Safety, DOT.

ACTION: Announcement of public hearing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Research and Special Programs Administration's (RSPA) 
Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) invites industry, government agencies, 
and the public to a hearing on response plans for onshore oil 
pipelines. The purpose of the hearing is to solicit comments on whether 
and how the current regulations on response plans for onshore oil 
pipelines could be improved. OPS may issue a final rule based on the 
comments received in writing and at the hearing.

DATES: The public hearing will be held on January 29, 1997, from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Persons who are unable to attend may submit written 
comments in duplicate by December 31, 1996. Interested persons should 
submit as part of their written comments all material that is relevant 
to a statement of fact or argument. Comments received after the 
deadline will be considered so far as practicable. The docket will be 
kept open for 60 days after the hearing to allow interested persons to 
review and comment on the transcript.
    Persons who wish to make a statement or present information at the 
public hearing must submit a written request to be included on the 
agenda. Please include as part of the request the amount of time 
needed. Requestors will be notified if OPS is required to limit their 
discussion to allow for all views to be heard.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the New Orleans Hilton 
Riverside, on Poydras at the Mississippi River in New Orleans, 
Louisiana. The hotel phone number is (504) 561-0500. Persons who want 
to participate should call (202) 366-8860 or e-mail their name, 
affiliation, and phone number to [email protected] before close of 
business December 31, 1996.
    Send written comments in duplicate to the Dockets Unit, Room 8421, 
U.S. Department of Transportation/RSPA, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, D.C. 20590-0001. Identify the docket and notice numbers 
stated in the heading of this notice. All comments and docket materials 
will be available for inspection and copying in Room 8421 between 8:30 
a.m. and 4:30 p.m. each business day. A transcript will be available 
from the Dockets Unit about four weeks after the hearing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Taylor, Response Plans Officer, at 
(202) 366-8860 or e-mail to [email protected], for inquiries about 
this document, or the Dockets Unit, (202) 366-5046, for copies of this 
document or other material in the docket.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In recent years, several catastrophic oil spills have damaged the 
marine environment of the United States and caused damage to fish and 
wildlife. Because of these incidents, Congress passed the Oil Pollution 
Act of 1990 (OPA 90) to establish a new national planning and response 
system. OPA 90 requires pipeline operators to develop and test Facility 
Response Plans (FRP) for each pipeline facility that handles petroleum 
or refined products.
    Under OPA 90, DOT is responsible for establishing procedures, 
methods and requirements for equipment to prevent and contain 
discharges of oil from vessels and transportation-related facilities. 
RSPA's Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has established procedures 
and planning requirements for discharges from packaging and 
transportation vehicles in 49 CFR 130. RSPA's OPS has responsibility to 
establish procedures and planning requirements to prevent discharges 
from and to contain oil and hazardous substances in onshore pipelines. 
The United States Coast Guard has similar planning standards for 
vessels and marine transfer facilities.
    On January 5, 1993, OPS published its interim final rule 
establishing regulations in 49 CFR 194 to require response plans for 
onshore oil pipelines (58 FR 244). The plans must be consistent with 
the National Contingency Plan (40 CFR 300), and with each applicable 
Area Contingency Plan. In its plan review process, OPS emphasizes the 
operator's understanding of incident command systems, unified command, 
and the provision of sufficient resources to respond to a worst case 
discharge. To date, OPS has reviewed and approved more than 800 
facility response plans.
    OPS also conducts tabletop and area exercises with pipeline 
operators as a

[[Page 60675]]

part of the Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) in 
cooperation with the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA), and the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service 
(MMS). OPS applies the lessons learned from exercises and from reviews 
of facility response plans to evaluate how its OPA 90 program is 
improving the pipeline industry's ability to respond to oil spills. OPS 
and industry also review experience from actual spills, such as those 
in Houston, Texas (1994), Gramercy, Louisiana (1996), and Simpsonville, 
South Carolina (1996) to evaluate the effectiveness of the OPA 90 
program.
    OPS has found improvements in actual responses resulting from the 
increased emphasis on planning and preparedness. The Coast Guard's 
Incident Specific Preparedness Review (ISPR) report on the 1994 San 
Jacinto spill made several recommendations that OPS has implemented in 
its program, such as providing an OPS liaison officer to work with the 
federal on-scene coordinator in the unified command at major pipeline 
spills. OPS has provided a liaison officer at three major spills since 
1994.
    On September 6, 1996, the National Transportation Safety Board 
issued its Pipeline Special Investigation Report on the pipeline spill 
in the San Jacinto River in 1994 (PB96-917004). The NTSB recommended 
that OPS ``require operators of liquid pipelines to address, in their 
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 spill response plans, identifying and 
responding to events that can pose a substantial threat of a worst-case 
product release'' (NTSB Recommendation P-96-21). OPS is seeking 
comments on what action should be taken to address this issue, in 
addition to reminding pipeline operators of the need to plan for a 
substantial threat of a worst case discharge.
    When OPS issued the interim final rule, it invited comments to 
ensure that the rule was feasible and workable and indicated that, if 
appropriate, OPS would make changes to the rule. OPS identified several 
topics on which it sought comment. OPS further indicated that it would 
consider public hearings to obtain further comments. The topics listed 
below are issues that have arisen during oil spill exercises and in the 
course of OPS's review and approval of facility response plans.
    State agencies and pipeline operators have been working with OPS 
for the past four years on the OPA 90 program, and OPS is interested in 
receiving additional information and comments regarding how the current 
regulations could be improved prior to issuing a final rule. OPS 
requests public comment on the following topics:
     Whether the definition of significant and substantial harm 
as defined in 49 CFR 194.103 should be changed.
     Whether a requirement for operators to have secondary 
communications systems for emergency response activities should be 
included in the final rule (Appendix A, Section 2).
     Whether operators should be able to take a 50% credit for 
the secondary containment around breakout tanks in calculating their 
worst case discharge volumes per 49 CFR 194.105(b)(3).
     Whether the plan review cycle should be modified from the 
current three-year cycle (49 CFR 194.121(a)) to a five-year cycle, to 
be consistent with Coast Guard and EPA requirements.
     Whether a regulatory definition of ``oil'' for purposes of 
response planning should be adopted. If so, how should ``oil'' be 
defined--the list published by the Coast Guard (G-MRO) on February 24, 
1995, the definition found in 49 CFR 194.5, or a different definition?
     Whether facility response plan requirements for pipelines 
transporting hazardous substances are needed.
     Whether OPS's internal document ``Guidelines for 
Developing and Evaluating an Oil Spill Response Exercise'' should be 
more widely distributed.
     Whether greater emphasis should be placed on requiring 
operators to plan for ``a substantial threat of a discharge,'' i.e., 
including procedures for shutting down the line prior to an actual 
release of oil, as suggested in the National Transportation Safety 
Board's recommendation (P-96-21).
     Whether pipeline operators have questions about 
jurisdictional issues for offshore pipelines.
    The transcript of the hearing will be available in the docket 
approximately four weeks after the hearing. Interested persons not able 
to attend the hearing may submit comments after reviewing the 
transcript. After reviewing and considering the comments, OPS will 
determine how to proceed. OPS may issue a final rule if the comments do 
not show areas of controversy. If comments show areas of controversy, 
or suggest amendments that need further comment, OPS may issue a notice 
of proposed rulemaking seeking further comment.

    Issued in Washington, DC on November 21, 1996.
Richard B. Felder,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 96-30316 Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P