[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4134-4136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1497]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0421]


Pipeline Safety: Leak Detection on Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; DOT.

ACTION: Notice; Issuance of Advisory Bulletin.

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SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 
(PHMSA) is issuing this Advisory Bulletin to advise and remind 
hazardous liquid pipeline operators of the importance of prompt and 
effective leak detection capability in protecting public safety and the 
environment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Mayberry by phone at 202-366-5124 
or by e-mail at [email protected] regarding the subject matter of 
this Advisory Bulletin,

[[Page 4135]]

or the Dockets Unit, 202-366-4453, for copies of this Advisory Bulletin 
or other material in the docket. All materials in this docket may be 
accessed electronically at http://dms.dot.gov. General information 
about the PHMSA Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) can be obtained by 
accessing OPS's Internet home page at http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Pipeline leak detection is one of the many layers of protection in 
PHMSA's approach to protecting people and the environment. The federal 
hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations require pipeline operators 
to deploy a comprehensive set of safety measures to protect the public 
and the environment including an effective means of identifying and 
responding to hazardous liquid pipeline leaks at the earliest possible 
time. Pipeline operators are continuously improving the cumulative 
performance of these interconnected layers of protections, including 
advances in leak detection systems. These protections include, but are 
not limited to: Customized leak detection technology deployment; 
periodic risk-based assessment and defect repair prioritized by 
environmental and safety consequences; corrosion management; pipeline 
right-of-way surveillance; public awareness activities resulting in 
enhanced citizen leak condition recognition and response; emergency 
preparedness and coordinated response, including ongoing liaison 
efforts with emergency responders; and a review and incorporation of 
lessons learned from accident analyses and investigations.
    Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a 
safety study on pipeline Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 
(SCADA) systems (NTSB/SS-05/02). The number of hazardous liquid 
accidents investigated by the NTSB in which leaks went undetected after 
indications of a leak on the SCADA interface was the impetus for this 
study. The NTSB examined 13 hazardous liquid pipeline accidents that 
they investigated from April 1992 to October 2004. The conclusions made 
by the NTSB in the study reflected the importance of monitoring 
systems, promptly recognizing leak incidents, and minimizing damage 
with quick response. PHMSA encourages all hazardous liquid pipeline 
operators to review the safety study which is available on the NTSB 
webpage.
    Under current regulations, all hazardous liquid pipeline operators 
are required to periodically patrol their pipeline right-of-ways. This 
effort is performed principally to guard against third-party activity 
that has the potential to damage the pipeline, and is also performed to 
detect very small leaks not detected by other means. Often, the leaking 
product has impacted vegetation or has pooled on the surface, and 
therefore leaves visual cues. Conducting these surveillance activities 
is very important, but they are not sufficient on their own to address 
all aspects of leak detection. Hazardous liquid pipeline operators are 
also expected to track product movement along the pipelines in order to 
ensure that all product going into the pipeline arrives at interim 
storage points, and eventually reaches its destination. This 
traditional and basic method of leak detection by tracking product 
movement is essential to an understanding of line balance. Relatively 
short pipelines, operating with a single source and a single 
destination, can usually perform this process rather simply, if 
adequate and timely information is made available. With these more 
simple pipelines, the line balance technique for leak detection can 
often be performed with manual calculations, without the need of a 
computerized process. Those pipeline operators with longer and more 
complex systems, with multiple sources and/or destinations, are more 
dependent on computerized processes to perform a thorough product 
tracking resulting in a leak detection process. The more complex a 
pipeline operation, especially when carrying numerous products through 
batch operations, the greater the need for a sophisticated leak 
detection process.
    Currently, there are 421 hazardous liquid pipeline operators. Two 
hundred and twenty of the operators have pipelines less than 50 miles 
long, 96 operators have pipelines 50 to 250 miles long, and 105 
operators have pipelines longer than 250 miles in length. Many of the 
operators with higher mileage have configured their pipelines into 
networks, sometimes collecting product from multiple sources and 
delivering product to multiple destinations, making the leak detection 
process complex. At the same time, we recognize that in some cases the 
engineering analysis performed on point-to-point pipeline systems has 
determined that installing a computer-based leak detection system does 
not offer substantial improvements in leak detection capability beyond 
that of a simple manual line balance calculation process.
    Under 49 CFR 195.444, pipeline operators using a computer-based 
leak detection system are required to comply with API RP 1130. Pipeline 
operators who do not employ computerized leak detection still need to 
safely and effectively perform the basic process of monitoring flow and 
pressure to detect large pipeline breaks. The line balance processes 
incorporating SCADA or other technology are geared to find less obvious 
failures such as partial line breaks and smaller leaks not apparent in 
general flow and pressure monitoring. When a pipeline operator has 
determined or selected to use a traditional line balance process 
through manual calculation, it is PHMSA's expectation that these 
operators would have systems configured and staffed in such a manner as 
to routinely, safely and accurately perform this manual calculation 
process at a maximum of one-hour intervals. The appropriate interval 
should be determined by engineering review, but should not exceed one 
hour. This hourly process is especially important any time product is 
flowing; but since leaks can occur at any time, all unexplained meter 
movements or pressure changes should be promptly investigated to 
minimize potential leak durations even if a line segment is shutdown. 
In addition, operators need to ensure open and regular communication 
between all active source and delivery points along the pipeline, 
either through verbal communication or through the use of SCADA or 
other similar technology.
    Operators of point-to-point hazardous liquid pipeline systems are 
obligated to have a prompt and effective means of detecting and 
responding to leaks. In order to ensure the safe and environmentally 
sound operation of their hazardous liquid pipelines, the operating 
plans and procedures required by the pipeline safety regulations should 
include the performance of an engineering analysis to determine if a 
computerized leak detection system is necessary and appropriate. If the 
analysis determines that a computerized leak detection system is 
unnecessary, the operator should perform a line balance calculation and 
review process at no greater than one-hour intervals whenever product 
is flowing through the line, and monitor for pressure changes, meter 
movement and tank level changes even when the line is not flowing. As 
part of the recordkeeping requirements under current regulations, 
operators must retain documentation from any related engineering 
analyses for the computerized leak detection and line balance 
considerations to demonstrate the thoroughness of review during an 
inspection.

[[Page 4136]]

II. Advisory Bulletin ADB-10-01

    To: Owners or Operators of Hazardous Liquid Pipelines.
    Subject: Leak Detection on Hazardous Liquid Pipelines.
    Advisory: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration (PHMSA) is advising and reminding hazardous liquid 
pipeline operators of the importance of prompt and effective leak 
detection capability in protecting public safety and the environment. 
In order to ensure the safe and environmentally sound operation of 
their hazardous liquid pipelines, the operating plans and procedures 
required by the pipeline safety regulations should include the 
performance of an engineering analysis to determine if a computer-based 
leak detection system is necessary to improve leak detection 
performance and line balance processes. If an operator that does not 
have a computer-based leak detection system performs an engineering 
analysis and determines that such a system would not improve leak 
detection performance and line balance processes, the operator should 
perform the periodic line balance calculation process outlined herein 
and take any other necessary actions required to ensure public safety 
and protect the environment.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 19, 2010.
Jeffrey D. Wiese,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2010-1497 Filed 1-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P