[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 31 (Friday, February 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7037-7039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-3769]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration


Outer Continental Shelf Pipelines

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Department of the Interior 
(DOI), and Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of memorandum of understanding.

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SUMMARY: DOI and DOT have revised a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 
on their respective responsibilities for pipelines on the Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS). The revised MOU will replace an MOU in effect 
since May 6, 1976.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 10, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
L. E. Herrick, Office of Pipeline Safety Regulatory Programs, RSPA; 
telephone (202) 366-5523; e-mail [email protected]; or Carl W. 
Anderson, Operations Analysis Branch, MMS; telephone (703) 787-1608; e-
mail Carl__A[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On May 24, 1995, MMS and RSPA published a notice with request for 
comments in the Federal Register (60 FR 27546; May 24, 1995). The 
notice announced a proposed MOU between the two agencies re-defining 
their respective responsibilities for pipelines on the OCS. Over 70 
people attended a public meeting in New Orleans on August 1, 1995, to 
discuss the proposal. A transcript of this meeting is available through 
the agency representatives listed in the ``For Further Information'' 
section of this notice. The public meeting generated over 100 pages of 
transcribed comments from natural gas and petroleum trade 
organizations, natural gas and oil exploration and production 
companies, transmission companies, offshore construction companies, and 
industry consultants. The DOI and DOT received twenty-three written 
comments on the Federal Register Notice.
    Before the close of the comment period, the American Petroleum 
Institute requested a 30-day extension to provide time to convene a 
regulated community task team, review the proposal, and prepare a 
detailed response. RSPA and MMS responded by extending the comment 
period to September 22, 1995 (60 FR 43611; August 22, 1995).
    The MOU places, to the greatest extent practicable, producer 
operated pipelines under DOI responsibility and transporter operated 
pipelines under DOT responsibility. Producers are companies which are 
engaged in he extraction and processing of hydrocarbons on the OCS. 
Transporters are companies which are engaged in the transportation of 
those hydrocarbons. As a result of this revision, some pipelines, 
predominantly producer operated pipelines, currently under DOT 
responsibility, will be under DOI responsibility.
    Each agency will initiate separate public rulemakings which will 
reflect the new boundaries. The DOI and DOT will propose that any 
changes in requirements for design or construction of pipelines which 
result from the transfer of pipelines to another agency's 
responsibility not apply to existing pipeline segment until each 
operator makes significant repairs or modifications to those segments.
    This MOU also establishes an agreement between the two agencies for 
DOI to act as agent for DOT in identifying and reporting potential 
violations of DOT regulations at offshore platforms on the OCS. As an 
agent, DOI may inspect all DOT-regulated pipeline facilities on 
production platforms during DOI inspections. DOI may also perform 
coordinated DOI/DOT inspections of pipeline facilities on DOT-regulated 
platforms. The inspections may include reviewing any operating or 
maintenance records or reports that are located at the inspected OCS 
platform facility.
    Once implemented through regulation, the changes described in the 
MOU will substantially reduce the burden of overlapping Federal 
jurisdictions and inconsistencies between agency requirements This will 
substantially increase the efficiency of governmental resources on the 
OCS without compromising safety.

    Dated: February 10, 1997.
Richard B. Felder,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.

    Dated: February 10, 1997.
Carolita U. Kallaur,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.

    The MOU reads as follows:

Memorandum of Understanding Between the Department of Transportation 
and the Department of the Interior, Regarding Outer Continental Shelf 
Pipelines

I. Purpose

    This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishes the boundaries 
that will be used to delineate the locations over which the Department 
of Transportation (DOT), Research and Special Programs Administration 
(RSPA), and the Department of the Interior (DOI), Minerals Management 
Service (MMS), will exercise their respective regulatory authority over 
pipelines located on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This MOU 
replaces the MOU between DOT and DOI regarding OCS pipelines which was 
signed and became effective May 6, 1976, and which terminates as of the 
effective date of this MOU.
    In recognition of each of the parties' respective regulatory 
responsibilities for OCS pipelines, DOI and DOT agree that an MOU is 
needed to avoid duplication of regulatory efforts regarding OCS 
pipelines, to assure coordination and consultation during the 
development and implementation of regulatory requirements, to 
facilitate compatible regulatory requirements for all OCS pipelines 
whether under DOI or DOT jurisdiction, and to promote safety and 
environmental protection on the OCS. This MOU puts, to the greatest 
extent practicable, OCS production pipelines under DOI responsibility 
and OCS transportation pipelines under DOT responsibility.

II. Authority

    DOT has the responsibility for promulgating and enforcing 
regulations for the safe and environmentally sound transportation or 
gases and hazardous liquids by pipeline. DOT administers the following 
laws as they relate to pipelines: (1) the pipeline safety laws (49 
U.S.C. 60101 et seq.); (2) the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 
1501-1524); (3) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) (33 
U.S.C. 1251-1375), as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) 
(P.L. 101-380) and implemented under Executive Order (E.O.) 12777; and 
(4)

[[Page 7038]]

the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.).
    DOI has responsibilities for promulgating and enforcing regulations 
for the promotion of safe operations, protection of the environment, 
and conservation of the natural resources of the OCS, as that area is 
defined in the OCS Lands Act (OCSLA) (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). DOI also 
has certain responsibilities for granting rights-of-way for the 
construction of pipelines and associated facilities on the OCS. DOI 
administers the following laws as they related to OCS pipelines: (1) 
The OCSLA for the transportation of minerals by pipeline, (2) the 
Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 for oil and gas 
production measurement, and (3) the FWPCA, as amended by OPA and 
implemented under E.O. 12777.

III. Division of Responsibilities

    DOI and DOT agree to the following division of OCS pipeline 
regulatory responsibilities with respect to design, construction, 
operation, and maintenance regulations for all pipelines on the OCS 
pursuant to the statutes cited above.

DOI Responsibilities

    1. DOI will establish and enforce design, construction, operation, 
and maintenance regulations and investigate significant accidents 
pursuant to the OCSLA for all OCS pipelines located upstream of the 
point at which operating responsibility transfers from a producing 
operator to a transporting operator. Such points shall be fixed and 
clearly designated by the operators of the facilities.
    2. DOI will perform authorized inspection tasks for OCS pipelines 
under DOT responsibility, also described under paragraph 8, ``Joint 
Responsibilities,'' as an agent of DOT, under DOT pipeline safety 
regulations and enforcement guidelines.
    3. DOI will consult with DOT during the development of regulatory 
requirements and will send a copy of each draft notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPR) concerning OCS pipelines to DOT for review at least 60 
days before the NPR is published in the Federal Register.
    4. DOI will require all applications concerning pipelines and 
pipeline rights-of-way to include a statement concerning which agency 
has responsibility for the pipeline. When DOI grants rights-of-way for 
pipelines which are under DOT responsibility, DOI will condition its 
approval on the pipelines being designed, constructed, operated, and 
maintained in compliance with DOT regulations. Upon approval of grants 
for right-of-way pipelines under DOT responsibility, DOI will provide 
copies of its approval letters to DOT.
    5. DOI will allow DOT to use, on a reimbursable basis, DOI-
contracted helicopters for the inspection of OCS pipelines, subject to 
helicopter availability.
    6. For pipelines under DOT responsibility, DOI will report to DOT 
in writing any apparent violation of DOT regulations that is identified 
during the course of DOI inspections.

DOT Responsibilities

    1. DOT will establish and enforce design, construction, operation, 
and maintenance regulations and investigate significant accidents for 
all OCS transportation pipelines beginning downstream of the point at 
which operating responsibility transfers from a producing operator to a 
transporting operator. Such points shall be fixed and clearly 
designated by the operators of the facilities.
    2. DOT delegates authorized inspection tasks for OCS pipelines 
under DOT responsibility to DOI, also described under paragraph 8, 
``Joint Responsibilities,'' as an agent of DOT, under DOT pipeline 
safety regulations and enforcement guidelines.
    3. DOT will consult with DOI during the development of regulatory 
requirements and will send a copy of each draft NPR concerning OCS 
pipelines to DOI for review at least 60 days before the NPR is 
published in the Federal Register.
    4. For pipelines under DOI regulatory authority, DOT will report to 
DOI in writing any apparent violation of DOI regulations that is 
identified during the course of DOT inspections.

Joint Responsibilities

    1. DOI and DOT will consult and coordinate all of their respective 
rulemaking efforts affecting OCS pipelines. Supporting regulatory 
analyses (e.g., Determinations of Effects of Rules, Regulatory Impact 
Analyses, and information collection burdens, etc.) will also be 
coordinated, although the analyses will be appropriate for each agency 
and the industry segments it regulates.
    2. DOI and DOT will coordinate all of their respective research and 
development projects concerning OCS pipelines.
    3. DOI and DOT may perform joint inspections of pipeline segments 
and facilities where either has jurisdiction, particularly when there 
are potential safety impacts from one facility on another.
    4. DOI and DOT may perform joint or independent investigations of 
accidents involving OCS pipeline segments where either has 
jurisdiction.
    5. DOI and DOT will each provide the other agency with any final 
rule, notice, agreement, or MOU with any Federal or State agency 
concerning OCS pipelines.
    6. At least once every 3 calendar years, DOI and DOT will jointly 
review existing standards, regulations, orders, operating practices, 
and environmental and safety issues concerning OCS pipelines.
    7. DOI and DOT may, through their enforcement agencies and in 
consultation with the affected parties, agree to exceptions to this MOU 
on a facility by facility or area by area basis. Operators may also 
petition DOI and DOT for exceptions to this MOU.
    8. DOI is authorized by DOT to perform coordinated OCS platform 
inspection tasks for pipelines under DOT responsibility. DOI will 
advise pipeline operators and DOT of inspection findings and will refer 
all cases of apparent noncompliance with DOT regulations to DOT.

IV. Implementation

    1. Within 120 days of the signing of this MOU, DOI and DOT will 
develop and initiate a joint implementation plan and rulemakings. The 
plan will also establish the procedures under which the point of 
demarcation at each facility will be fixed, marked, and reported.
    2. Thereafter, DOI and DOT will meet periodically to review and 
update the joint implementation plan and to review this MOU for any 
needed revisions.
    3. The respective points of contact for the provisions of this MOU 
are:

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety, Research and Special 
Programs Administration, Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, 
SW., Washington, D.C. 20590
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management, Minerals 
Management Service, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW., 
Washington, D.C. 20240

V. Limitations

    1. Nothing in this MOU is intended to alter, limit, or expand the 
statutory or regulatory authority of DOT or DOI until implementing 
regulations are adopted.
    2. Nothing in this MOU limits informal consultations not otherwise 
mentioned in this agreement.
    3. Nothing in this MOU relieves an OCS pipeline owner or operator 
from complying with the regulations of any State of Federal agency.
    4. Under a separate MOU among DOI, DOT, and the U.S. Environmental

[[Page 7039]]

Protection Agency pursuant to the OPA, the agencies have divided their 
respective responsibilities for oil spill prevention and response 
according to the definition of ``coast line'' contained in the 
Submerged Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1301(c) (59 FR 9494-9495). Nothing 
herein is intended to affect the implementation or administration of 
that MOU.

VI. Modification

    Either party to this agreement may propose modifications by 
submitting them in writing to the head of the other Department. No 
modification may be adopted except with the consent of both parties. 
Both parties shall indicate their consent to or disagreement with any 
proposed modification within 60 days of receipt. Upon the request of 
either party, representatives of both parties shall meet for the 
purpose of considering modifications to this agreement.

VII. Termination

    This MOU may be terminated by either party upon 60-day written 
notice to the other party.

VIII. Administration

    This MOU will be administered by DOI's Minerals Management Service 
and DOT's Research and Special Programs Administration or such 
successor agencies as may be designated by the respective Secretaries.

IX. Effective Date

    This MOU is effective upon acceptance by both parties as indicated 
by the signatures below.

    Dated: December 10, 1996.

Department of the Interior.
Bruce Babbitt,
Secretary.
    Dated: December 10, 1996.

Department of Transportation
Federico Pena,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-3769 Filed 2-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-M