[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 90 (Thursday, May 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31399-31400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11620]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-99-6355]


Pipeline Safety: Pipeline Integrity Management in High 
Consequence Areas (Hazardous Liquid Operators With 500 or More Miles of 
Pipeline)

AGENCY: Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), Research and Special Programs 
Administration (RSPA), Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of workshop.

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

SUMMARY: This notice announces a two-day workshop on OPS's findings 
from inspections conducted from February through April 2002 to evaluate 
operators' compliance with 49 CFR part 195.452, ``Pipeline Integrity 
Management in High Consequence Areas,'' effective May 29, 2001. On day 
1, OPS will present its assessment of operators' progress identifying 
pipeline segments that could affect high consequence areas (HCAs). The 
deadline for completing these identifications was December 31, 2001. 
OPS will also comment on its plans for conducting the Comprehensive 
Integrity Management Program Inspections, set to begin in August 2002. 
On day 2, OPS will provide a forum for the pipeline industry to share 
and discuss noteworthy integrity management practices that achieve 
compliance with the rule. Emphasis will be in areas in which OPS 
believes improvement is needed.
    Workshop Dates and Addresses: The workshop will be on July 23, 
2002, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and July 24, 2002, from 8 a.m. to noon, at 
the J.W. Marriott Hotel, 5150 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77056 
(tel: 713-961-1500 fax: 713-961-5045). No later than June 10, 2002, 
rooms may be reserved within a block identified as ``USDOT/IMP Meeting 
Block''.
    Registration and Further Information: For event planning purposes, 
we request that you please register via the instructions given at 
http://primis.rspa.dot.gov/meetings/Mtg3.mtg. The website provides 
links to other useful information (including a meeting agenda, once 
available) and enables viewers to submit questions to OPS about the 
workshop.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

    OPS's integrity management initiative is intended to improve safety 
and environmental protection and to provide better assurance to the 
public

[[Page 31400]]

about the safety of pipelines. It is also intended to comprehensively 
address National Transportation Safety Board recommendations, 
Congressional mandates and pipeline safety and environmental issues 
raised over the years. It is based on the culmination of experience OPS 
has gained from pipeline inspections, accident investigations and risk 
management and system integrity initiatives.
    OPS's first integrity management rule (65 FR 75378), issued on 
November 2, 2000, and effective on May 29, 2001, applies to hazardous 
liquid operators who own or operate 500 or more miles of pipeline. The 
rule applies to pipelines that can affect HCAs, which include populated 
areas defined by the Census Bureau as urbanized areas or places, 
unusually sensitive environmental areas, and commercially navigable 
waterways.
    Between February and April 2002, OPS inspected all affected 
operators to evaluate their compliance with the rule's first deadline 
requiring identification by December 31, 2001, of all pipeline segments 
that can affect HCAs. OPS also conducted a preliminary assessment of 
operators' readiness to comply with the rule's March 31, 2002, deadline 
to implement an integrity management program. OPS will begin more 
comprehensive inspections addressing the March 31 deadline in August 
2002.
    OPS is conducting this workshop to assist operators in learning 
where improvement in integrity management is needed, and what means are 
available to achieve these improvements. Because the new rule requires 
fundamental change in the integrity management practices of many 
affected pipeline operators, OPS's enforcement approach will encourage 
and monitor continuous improvement in operator compliance with the 
rule's provisions.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 3, 2002.
Stacey L. Gerard,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 02-11620 Filed 5-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P