[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 108 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33759-33760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-14159]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-98-4957]


Pipeline Safety: Revision of Natural Gas Distribution Incident 
and Annual Report Forms

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on revision of Information 
Collection OMB 2137-0522.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, RSPA's 
Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is publishing its intention to revise 
forms RSPA F 7100.1, Incident Report For Gas Distribution Systems, and 
RSPA F 7100.1-1, Annual Report For Gas Distribution Systems, and the 
Instructions for those forms. The purpose of this notice is to request 
public comment on the proposed changes in the forms and on the 
information collection burden.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before August 4, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by mail or delivery to the 
Dockets Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Room PL-401, 
400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. The Dockets 
facility is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
federal holidays. Comments should identify the docket number of this 
notice, RSPA-98-4957. You should submit the original and one copy. If 
you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your comments, you must 
include a stamped, self-addressed postcard.
    You may also submit or review comments electronically by accessing 
the Docket Management System's home page at http://dms.dot.gov. Click 
on ``Help & Information'' for instructions on how to file a document 
electronically. All written comments should identify the docket and 
notice numbers stated in the heading of this notice.
    Comments are invited on: (a) The need for the proposed collection 
of information for the proper performance of the functions of the 
agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; 
(b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed 
collection of information including the validity of the methodology and 
assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden 
of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques.
    The forms are available for review in Docket No. RSPA-98-4957.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roger Little by telephone at 202-366-
4569, by fax at 202-366-4566, by mail at DOT, RSPA, OPS 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room 7128, Washington, DC, 20590, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: RSPA/OPS collects information on distribution pipeline 
incidents as part of its efforts to minimize natural gas distribution 
pipeline failures. The revised forms request additional information 
concerning the characteristics of an operator's pipeline system. This 
information is needed to ``normalize'' incident information for safety 
trend analysis. The process of making elements of data comparable for 
comparison purposes (as in finding a common denominator, for example) 
is known as ``normalizing'' the data. The requirements for reporting 
incidents are found in 49 CFR part 191. The regulations require 
submission of the natural gas distribution annual report form by March 
15 of each year for the preceding year's operations. Reports on 
distribution incidents must be submitted to RSPA/OPS in writing within 
30 days of the incident's occurrence.
    Natural gas distribution incident and annual reports are important 
tools for identifying safety trends in the gas pipeline industry. The 
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), DOT's Office of the 
Inspector General and General Accounting Office have urged RSPA/OPS to 
revise the information collected on the natural gas distribution 
pipeline incident and annual report forms.
    NTSB Safety Recommendation P-96-1 urges RSPA/OPS to:

* * * develop within 1 year and implement within 2 years a 
comprehensive plan for the collection and use of gas and hazardous 
liquid pipeline accident data that details the type and extent of 
data to be collected, to provide the Research and Special Programs 
Administration with the capability to perform methodologically sound 
accident trend analyses and evaluations of pipeline operator 
performance using normalized accident data.

    RSPA/OPS worked with representatives of the American Gas 
Association (AGA) to revise the natural gas distribution incident and 
annual report forms to make the information collected more useful to 
industry, government, and the public. RSPA/OPS also received 
suggestions for improvements from the National Association of Pipeline 
Safety Representatives, which represents state pipeline safety offices. 
State pipeline safety offices conduct safety inspections of natural gas 
distribution operators' records and facilities. They rely on report 
information for safety trending and inspection targeting.
    The improvements to the natural gas distribution incident and 
annual report forms are necessary to address deficiencies in the 
current information collection. The form features more incident cause 
categories, impacts, failure mechanisms, locations, and other details 
about natural gas pipeline distribution incidents. The information 
derived from use of the form will make pipeline safety statistics more 
useful and more meaningful.
    The proposed natural gas distribution operator annual report asks 
for pipeline mileage by decade installed. From 1970 through 1984, RSPA/
OPS had a category for mileage by decade installed on the natural gas 
distribution operator annual report but the category was removed after 
the passage of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Proposed Revision to Information Collection

    Abstract: The forms to be revised are two of the four gas pipeline 
reporting forms authorized by Information Collection OMB 2137-0522, 
``Incident and Annual Reports for Gas Operators.'' The proposed 
revisions represent the

[[Page 33760]]

final phase of an ongoing process to revise all incident and annual 
reports. RSPA/OPS revised the natural gas transmission operator 
incident and annual report forms in 2001 for collection beginning in 
2002.
    The revisions proposed by this notice align cause categories for 
natural gas distribution incident reports with cause categories for 
natural gas transmission incident reports and hazardous liquid accident 
reports. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B31.4 
committee, a hazardous liquid pipeline data group, has conducted annual 
studies of RSPA/OPS incident reports since the forms were last revised 
in 1984. The committee developed the cause categories for hazardous 
liquid pipeline accidents. RSPA/OPS has adopted the 22 categories for 
both hazardous liquid and natural gas transmission reports and added 
three other categories. RSPA/OPS proposes to adopt the ASME B31.4 
committee's cause categories for all of the RSPA/OPS pipeline incident 
and accident report forms. The proposed revisions address the 
recommendations to improve pipeline safety information collection made 
by the NTSB, DOT's Office of Inspector General and General Accounting 
Office, and others.
    RSPA/OPS needs this information for safety analysis and believes 
that the benefits of having the information outweigh the burden. For 
this reason, RSPA/OPS recently added the ``mileage by decade'' category 
to the natural gas transmission annual report (66 FR 23316; May 8, 
2001.) On July 26, 2002, RSPA/OPS proposed to require hazardous liquid 
pipeline operators to submit ``mileage by decade installed'' 
information on a new hazardous liquid annual report (67 FR 48844; July 
26, 2002.) Hazardous liquid pipeline operators were not previously 
required to submit annual reports. The collection of information on 
pipeline age addresses a widely acknowledged gap in pipeline safety 
information.
    Title: Proposed Revisions to the Natural Gas Distribution Incident 
Report (RSPA F 7100.1) and the Annual Report For Gas Distribution 
Systems (RSPA F 7100.1-1).
    OMB Number: 2137-0522.
    Respondents: Gas distribution pipeline operators.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,200.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 15,120 hours.
    The average number of burden hours per response is approximately 6 
hours for the revised distribution incident report (approximately 75 
fields x 5 minutes per field = approximately 6 hours per incident form) 
and 12 hours for the revised distribution annual report (approximately 
150 fields x 5 minutes per field = approximately 12 hours per annual 
report form).
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent per Year (average over 
the last ten years): Incident Reports: 0.08 (120 per year per 1,200 
operators = .1); Annual Reports: 1.0.
    The average number of burden hours per response is approximately 6 
hours for the revised natural gas distribution system incident report 
form and 12 hours for the revised natural gas distribution system 
annual report form. For all 1,200 gas distribution pipeline operators 
the burden estimate is 720 hours (6 hours x 1,200 operators x 0.1 
incidents) for incidents and 14,400 hours (12 hours x 1,200 operators x 
1 annual report) for annual reports, for a total burden of 15,120 hours 
per annum.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 5103(b), 60102, 60104, 60117)


    Issued in Washington, DC on May 30, 2003.
Stacey L. Gerard,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 03-14159 Filed 6-4-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P