[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 68 (Thursday, April 8, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 18676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7963]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-00-7666]


Pipeline Safety: Workshop on Gas Pipeline Integrity Management

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

ACTION: Notice of workshop on gas pipeline integrity management.

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SUMMARY: The Research and Special Programs Administration's (RSPA) 
Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) and the National Association of 
Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) will cosponsor a workshop to 
discuss the Gas Pipeline Integrity Management final rule issued on 
December 15, 2003. The workshop will provide a detailed review and 
discussion of gas pipeline integrity management program requirements. 
Comments and issues discussed at the workshop will help RSPA/OPS and 
NAPSR implement oversight of operators' compliance with the gas 
pipeline integrity management rule. RSPA/OPS and NAPSR will hold 
another workshop in 2004 to provide further guidance on the oversight 
process to be used. OPS will also provide written guidance material to 
help operators prepare for compliance.

DATES: Tuesday, May 11, 2004, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday, 
May 12, 2004, from 8 a.m. to Noon.

ADDRESSES: The Westin Galleria, 5060 West Alabama, Houston, Texas, 
Phone: 713-960-8100; fax: 713-960-6549. For discounted rates, please 
refer to the USDOT Gas IMP Workshop block when making reservations. The 
deadline for reserving accommodations is April 19, 2004. For additional 
information on hotel accommodations, contact Janice Morgan at 202-366-
2392 or [email protected].

Information on Services for Individuals with Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact 
Juan Carlos Martinez (tel: 202-366-1933; E-mail: 
[email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Zach Barrett, (tel: 405-954-5559; E-
mail [email protected]), or Jeff Wiese (tel: 202-366-2036; E-
mail [email protected] regarding the subject matter of this 
notice. Additional information about gas integrity management can be 
found at http://primis.rspa.dot.gov/gasimp. You can read comments and 
other material in the docket on the Internet at: http://dms.dot.gov.
    This meeting is open to all interested parties. However, operators 
of natural gas transmission pipelines are urged to attend either in 
person or to observe the workshop via the Internet. RSPA/OPS will 
webcast this meeting. To facilitate meeting planning and to obtain 
additional information regarding the webcast, advance registration for 
the meeting is strongly encouraged and can be accomplished online at 
the following Web site: http://primis/rspa.dot.gov/meetings. Internet 
links to the webcast will also be available through this Web site, or 
from the front page of the OPS Web site: http://ops.dot.gov. Those 
planning to ``attend'' this meeting through the webcast are strongly 
encouraged to review our ``tips'' for ensuring successful viewing in 
advance, as well as to register through our Web site. Registration both 
ensures that we can accommodate all attendees and provide additional 
information to them via the internet. The deadline for online meeting 
registration is May 5, 2004. Walk-in registration will be accommodated 
on a first-come, first-served basis.
    Attendees will be provided the opportunity, at scheduled times 
during the workshop, to ask questions or make short statements on the 
topics under discussion. You may submit written comments by mail or 
deliver to the Dockets Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation 
(DOT), Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. 
It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays. You also may submit written comments to the docket 
electronically. To do so, log onto the following Internet Web address: 
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 which appear in the heading of 
this notice. Anyone who would like confirmation of mailed comments must 
include a self-addressed stamped postcard.
    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the April 11, 2000, issue of the FR 
(Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 
(codified at 49 U.S.C. 60101) required RSPA/OPS to prescribe standards 
by December 17, 2003, to direct a pipeline operator's conduct of a risk 
analysis and the adoption and implementation of an integrity management 
program. In compliance with the statute, on December 15, 2003, RSPA/OPS 
issued a final rule on Gas Transmission Pipeline Integrity Management 
(68 FR 69778). Similar to the final rule for integrity management of 
hazardous liquid pipelines, RSPA/OPS has four fundamental objectives 
for the Gas Integrity Management final rule:
    (1) To increase the level of integrity assessments (i.e., in-line 
inspection, pressure testing or direct assessment) for pipelines that 
can affect high consequence areas; (2) to improve operator integrity 
management systems; (3) to improve government oversight of operator 
integrity management programs; and (4) to improve public assurance in 
pipeline safety.
    The Gas Transmission Pipeline Integrity Management rule provides 
the foundation for RSPA/OPS to move beyond an assessment of the current 
metallurgical condition of the pipe to assess the overall management 
and systems used by an operator to implement effective and timely 
actions to maintain pipeline safety. Specific requirements of the final 
rule and extensive information on its implementation and enforcement 
can be found at: http://primis.rspa.dot.gov/gasimp.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 60102, 60109, 60117.

    Issued in Washington, DC on April 2, 2004.
Stacey L. Gerard,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-7963 Filed 4-7-04; 8:45 am]
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