[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 3 (Thursday, January 4, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 848-849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-237]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT

[Docket No. RSPA-00-7666; Notice 1 and RSPA-00-7408; Notice 1]


Pipeline Safety: Pipeline Integrity Management in High 
Consequence Areas (Natural Gas Pipelines) and Communications (Natural 
Gas and Hazardous Liquid Pipelines)

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: This notice announces a three-day public meeting. Day 1 will 
feature reports on the status of industry and government activities on 
how to improve the integrity of natural gas pipelines. On Day 2, the 
Integrity Management Communications Work Group will report its status 
and presentations from members of the public and will further explore 
communication needs and options. On Day 3, meeting attendees are 
invited to participate in in-depth discussions on the integrity of 
natural gas pipelines. This meeting is a continuation of the integrity 
project begun at a November 18, 1999, public meeting held in Herndon, 
VA. Since that meeting, OPS has initiated rulemakings requiring 
hazardous liquid pipeline operators to assess the integrity of pipeline 
segments that, in the event of a leak or failure, could affect high 
consequence areas. In anticipation of similar rulemakings applying to 
natural gas pipelines, OPS has been meeting with representatives of the 
natural gas pipeline industry, research institutions, and State 
pipeline safety agencies to understand how integrity management 
principles can best be applied to improve safety in the gas pipeline 
industry. OPS has also been exploring communication requirements for 
all pipeline operators to share information with community and State 
officials and the public about risks from pipelines, how pipeline risks 
can be managed and controlled, and how we know the pipelines are being 
operated safely. This three-day public meeting will present, to the 
widest possible audience, the results of all analyses and discussions 
to date, identify issues, and obtain public comment.

DATES: The public meeting will be on February 12, 2001, from 9 a.m. to 
4 p.m., February 13, 2001, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and February 14, 
2001, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Crystal City Marriott.

ADDRESSES: (1) Meeting Address: Crystal City Marriott, 1999 Jefferson 
Davis Highway, Arlington, VA, 22202, 703-413-5500. Rooms may be 
reserved within a block identified as ``Department of Transportation 
Integrity Management Meetings''. (2) Address for Written Comments: OPS 
requests that comments relating to the public meeting be submitted on 
or before January 29, 2001, so they can be considered as the meeting 
agenda is being developed. Submit written comments by mail or delivery 
to the Dockets Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-
401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. You also may 
submit written comments to the docket electronically. To do so, log on 
to the http://dms.dot.gov">dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' for instructions on 
how to file a document electronically. Written comments should identify 
the appropriate docket RSPA-00-7666 for integrity management for gas 
pipelines and RSPA-00-7408 for communications. Anyone desiring 
confirmation of mailed comments must include a self-addressed stamped 
postcard. The Dockets Facility is located on the plaza level, Room PL-
401, of the US Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except federal holidays.
    If you want to make an oral presentation at the meeting, please 
notify Jenny Donohue no later than January 29, 2001, by phone (202-366-
4046) or by Internet e-mail ([email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beth Callsen (tel: 202-366-4572; E-
mail: [email protected]). You can read comments and other 
material in the docket on the Internet at: http://dms.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:   

1. Background

    OPS's integrity management and communication initiatives are the 
culmination of experience gained from pipeline inspections, accident 
investigations and risk management and system integrity initiatives. 
These initiatives are intended to improve safety and environmental 
protection and to provide better assurance to the public about the 
safety of pipelines. They are also intended to comprehensively address 
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations, 
Congressional mandates and pipeline safety and environmental issues 
raised over the years.

[[Page 849]]

    OPS is issuing integrity management program requirements in several 
steps. Because natural gas and hazardous liquids have different 
physical properties, pose different risks, and the configuration of the 
systems differ, and because OPS already possessed sufficient 
information about integrity management practices on hazardous liquid 
pipelines, OPS began the series of rules by issuing requirements 
pertaining to hazardous liquid operators. A final rule applying to 
hazardous liquid operators with 500 or more miles of pipeline was 
issued November 3, 2000, (65 FR 75378). This rule applies to pipelines 
that can affect high consequence areas (HCAs), which include populated 
areas defined by the Census Bureau as urbanized areas or places, 
unusually sensitive environmental areas, and commercially navigable 
waterways. A notice of proposed rulemaking applying to hazardous liquid 
operators with fewer than 500 miles of pipeline will be issued soon.

Day 1: Integrity Management Concepts for Gas Pipelines

    OPS has been meeting with representatives of the gas pipeline 
industry, research institutions, and State pipeline safety agencies to 
gather the information needed for rulemakings pertaining to gas 
operators. Since January 2000, there have been nine meetings with State 
agencies, representatives of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of 
America (INGAA), the American Gas Association (AGA), Battelle Memorial 
Institute, the Gas Technology Institute (GTI), Hartford Steam Boiler 
Inspection and Insurance Company, and operators covered under 49 CFR 
part 192. (See DOT Docket #7666 for summaries of the meetings.) The 
purpose of these meetings was to develop integrity management concepts 
that could most effectively be applied to gas transmission pipelines. 
At the meetings, industry representatives presented their perspectives 
on a number of issues relating to integrity management. Presentations 
on each of these subject areas will be included in the public meeting 
agenda. They include:

     Considerations for defining HCAs affected by gas pipelines
     Evaluation of design factors currently used for gas 
transmission pipelines
     Evaluation of performance history and experience with the 
impact zone in gas transmission failures
     Integrity management best practices and relationship 
between incident causes and industry practices
     Options for various forms of direct assessment of the 
integrity of gas pipelines; their costs and effectiveness
     Basis for establishing test intervals
     Appropriateness of distinguishing between pipelines on 
basis of pressure
     Status of research activities
     Status of development of new national consensus standards

Day 2: Communications With the Public

    Because communications with the public is an important part of a 
pipeline integrity management program, OPS is examining the need for 
standards for how operators are to communicate with State and local 
officials and the public about results of risk assessment processes and 
measures to prevent and mitigate damage to pipelines in case of a 
failure. OPS seeks comment on how State and local officials and the 
public could use and benefit from risk assessment information, how the 
consequences of potential pipeline failures should be characterized, 
how risk control actions should be described, and what operational 
information would be meaningful. To provide OPS input on both the 
content and optimal delivery of pipeline information, OPS formed the 
Integrity Management Communications Work Group. This nine-member group 
includes balanced representation of government, industry, and public 
interest stakeholders. At the public meeting, the Work Group will 
report the status of its discussions on the following topics:

     Proposed information to be communicated
     Expected utility of that information to the end user
     Feasibility of collecting/reporting that information
     Summary of any issues or debates concerning public access 
to that information
    Presentations from members of the public will further explore 
communication needs and options.

Day 3: In-Depth Integrity Management Discussions

    To ensure full consideration of all issues relating to gas pipeline 
integrity, attendees are invited to participate in a more in-depth and 
interactive treatment of topics raised on Day 1. These unstructured 
discussions will utilize an informal roundtable format.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 28, 2000.
John Hess,
Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 01-237 Filed 1-3-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P