[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 157 (Friday, August 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43741-43742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21840]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT
[Docket No. RSPA-98-3891; Notice 14]


Pipeline Safety: Mobil Pipe Line Company Approved for Pipeline 
Risk Management Demonstration Program

AGENCY: Office of Pipeline Safety, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of risk demonstration project approval and finding of no 
significant impact.

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SUMMARY: The Research and Special Programs Administration's (RSPA) 
Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has issued a Risk Management 
Demonstration Project Order authorizing Mobil Pipe Line Company to 
participate in the Pipeline Risk Management Demonstration Program. OPS 
has also made a finding that Mobil's demonstration project will have no 
significant impacts on the environment.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this or any other demonstration project will be 
accepted in the Docket throughout the 4-year demonstration period. 
Comments should be sent to the Dockets Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Plaza 401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20590-0001, or you can E-Mail your comments to 
[email protected]. Comments should identify the docket number 
RSPA-98-3891. Persons should submit the original comment document and 
one (1) copy. Persons wishing to receive confirmation of receipt of 
their comments must include a self-addressed stamped postcard. The 
Dockets Facility is located on the plaza level of the Nassif Building 
in Room 401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC. The Dockets 
Facility is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except on Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Callsen, OPS, (202) 366-
4572, regarding the subject matter of this notice. Contact the Dockets 
Unit, (202) 366-5046, for docket material. Comments may also be 
reviewed online at the DOT Docket Management System website at http://
dms.dot.gov/.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:
    Project Authorization: On August 10, 1998, OPS, pursuant to 49 
U.S.C. 60126, issued Mobil a Risk Management Demonstration Project 
Order authorizing Mobil to conduct a risk management project at Mobil's 
Patoka, Illinois crude breakout tank facility located within the city 
limits of Vernon, Illinois. OPS has determined, after a comprehensive 
review of Mobil's demonstration project, that the project is expected 
to provide superior safety.
    More detailed descriptions of all aspects of the Mobil 
demonstration project, including the OPS rationale for approving the 
project, are available in the following documents:
    (1) 63 FR 36024, ``Pipeline Safety: Intent To Approve Project and 
Environmental Assessment for the Mobil Pipe Line Company Pipeline Risk 
Management Demonstration Program'', July 1, 1998.
    (2) ``Demonstration Project Prospectus: Mobil Pipe Line Company; 
Site: Patoka, Illinois'', available by contacting Elizabeth M. Callsen 
at 202-366-4572. Includes a map showing the demonstration site.
    (3) ``Mobil Pipe Line Company--Application for DOT-OPS Risk 
Management Demonstration Program'', available in Docket No. RSPA-98-
3891 at the Dockets Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Plaza 
401, 400

[[Page 43742]]

Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001, (202) 366-5046.
    (4) ``OPS Project Review Team Evaluation of Mobil Demonstration 
Project''.
    (5) ``Risk Management Demonstration Project Order'' for Mobil Pipe 
Line Corporation, August 10, 1998.
    These documents and other information pertaining to the Mobil 
project are accessible to the public via the Pipeline Risk Management 
Information System (PRIMIS), on the OPS Home Page at http://
ops.dot.gov.
    Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI): OPS has reviewed Mobil's 
project for conformity with section 102(2)(c) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4332), the Council on Environmental 
Quality implementing regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508), and Department of 
Transportation Order 5610.1c, Procedures for Considering Environmental 
Impacts. OPS conducted an Environmental Assessment of Phillips' project 
(63 FR 36024, ``Pipeline Safety: Intent To Approve Project and 
Environmental Assessment for the Phillips Pipe Line Company Pipeline 
Risk Management Demonstration Program'', July 1, 1998).
    OPS received no public comment on the Environmental Assessment.
    Based on the analysis and conclusions reached in the Environmental 
Assessment and the analyses conducted in the above-listed documents, 
OPS has found that there are no significant impacts on the environment 
associated with this action. The Environmental Assessment and the other 
above-listed documents are incorporated by reference into this FONSI. 
To summarize, the reason that the project will not have a significant 
effect on the human environment is that the project as now defined 
requires no regulatory exemption. This project is expected to 
demonstrate that risk management techniques can be successfully applied 
toward achieving superior safety and environmental protection at a tank 
facility. All activities to be performed by Mobil as part of the 
demonstration project, including investigating the specific ways that 
leaks or ruptures could possibly occur within the Patoka facility, 
taking into account the specific characteristics of the site in 
determining the potential safety and environmental impacts of such 
events, defining the most effective means of minimizing the likelihood 
and consequences of such events, and quantitatively validating its 
overall approach, exceed what is currently required by pipeline safety 
regulations. This rationale is further discussed in the Environmental 
Assessment referenced above.

    Issued in Washington, DC on August 11, 1998.
Richard B. Felder,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety, Office of Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 98-21840 Filed 8-13-98; 8:45 am]
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