Obama Administration Pipeline Safety Goals and Accomplishments
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is committed to reducing transportation risks to the public and environment. PHMSA has been providing strong safety and environmental oversight of the pipeline network that delivers energy fuels to the American public. This oversight has focused on high-risk infrastructure issues, including a specific concern regarding the need to accelerate the repair, rehabilitation or replacement of certain high-risk pipeline infrastructure.
STRONG LEGISLATION - PHMSA drafted an Administration legislative initiative for program reauthorization entitled, “Strengthening Pipeline Safety and Enforcement Act of 2010.” The proposal:
- increases the maximum administrative civil penalties from $100,000 per day/$1 million for a series of violations to $250,000 per day/$2.5 million for a series of violations;
- closes regulatory gaps by eliminating statutory exemptions for gas and hazardous liquid gathering lines that operate upstream of transmission pipelines;
- requires a review of the effectiveness of current rules that apply risk management requirements only to pipelines in high consequence areas; and
- increases the data available to the pipeline program to minimize risks.
AGGRESSIVE REGULATORY INITIATIVES – Through rulemaking and pipeline safety advisories since 2009, PHMSA closed a record 12 National Transportation Safety Board safety recommendations, addressing leak detection systems, excess flow valves, human fatigue, and internal operations of pipeline companies’ control rooms, as well as distribution integrity management for pipelines in high consequence areas (DIMP). PHMSA also closed its final Office of Inspector General and Government Accounting Office recommendations.
PHMSA conducted a thorough review of its inspection and enforcement related regulations and operations, as well as its data collection and transparency, and has taken the following actions:
| October 2009 | ANPRM to bring enforcement action against violators of state pipeline damage prevention laws where damage prevention enforcement is inadequate. The comment period has closed. |
| December 2009 | Final Rule to require operators of gas distribution pipelines to develop and implement integrity management programs similar to those required for gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines. |
| December 2009 | Final Rule to address human factors and other aspects of control room management for pipelines where controllers use supervisory control and data acquisition systems. |
| January 2010 | Advisory Bulletin requiring hazardous liquid pipeline operators to implement prompt and effective leak detection. |
| March 2010 | Advisory Bulletin to notify owners and operators of recently constructed large diameter natural gas pipeline and hazardous liquid pipeline systems of the potential for girth weld failures due to welding quality issues. |
| June 2010 | Advisory Bulletin to operators of hazardous liquid pipeline facilities requiring them to prepare and submit an oil spill response plan, under 49 CFR part 194. |
| September 2010 | NPRM to expedite the deadlines in the control room management rule for pipelines. The comment period has closed and the Final Rule is at OMB for review. |
| September 2010 | ANPRM considering elimination of regulatory exemptions in its oversight of hazardous liquid pipelines. In addition, PHMSA is seeking comment on whether other areas along a pipeline should be identified for extra protection; whether to establish minimum leak detection requirements for all pipelines; whether to require emergency flow restricting devices in certain areas; whether revised valve spacing requirements are needed; whether repair timeframes should be specified for pipeline outside high consequence areas (HCAs); and whether to establish and/or adopt standards and procedures for improving the methods of preventing, detecting, and remediating stress corrosion cracking. The comment period closes February 18, 2010. |
| December 2010 | Final Rule regulating the remaining population of unregulated rural hazardous liquid low stress pipelines, which was required by the PIPES of 2006. |
| January 2011 | Final Rule to improve data collection from operators of pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities. |
| January 2011 | Advisory Bulletin reminding pipeline operators to perform detailed risk analyses that integrate accurate pipeline data and information when calculating Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure and to utilize these risk analyses to identify integrity threats, and preventive and mitigative measures, as a result of San Bruno incident. |
EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT – PHMSA has significantly increased is inspection and enforcement personnel with a 29% increase in staffing since 2008. As a result, PHMS has been able to reduce its enforcement case backlog, 580 enforcement cases, closed 721 cases, and issued 230 Final Orders. PHMSA collected $8,847,880 in civil penalties. PHMSA takes enforcement actions to ensure that operators are held accountable for compliance with safety laws. Recent actions include:
| September 2010 | Issued a Final Amended Corrective Action Order to Enbridge after the discovery of a leak on the Lakehead System. The Order required Enbridge to conduct a comprehensive review of the operating history of the line and prescribed further inspections, testing, and repairs within and beyond the immediate failure area, and specifically ordered the replacement of pipeline under the St. Clair River. |
| September 2010 | Issued a Notice of Proposed Safety Order to Columbia Gas Transmission LLC (CGT) after a failure of a pipeline transporting natural gas that occurred on September 9, 2010. The Notice will lead to an order requiring CGT to develop and implement a remedial plan on corrosion procedures and perform appropriate permanent repairs. |
| November 2010 | Issued a Notice of Proposed Safety Order to ONEOK NGL Pipeline, L.P. after a pipeline failure that had occurred on November 1, 2010. The Notice will lead to an order requiring ONEOK to review previous inline inspection data, identify areas where accelerated corrosion may be occurring, and remediate those areas. |
| December 2010 | Issued a Corrective Action Order to Chevron, after a failure on its pipeline in Salt Lake City. The Order required Chevron to repair all of the facilities affected by its June 2010 hydrostatic pressure test performed after the first incident. |
| February 2011 | Issued a Notice of Proposed Safety Order to Alyeska after a leak on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System on January 8, 2011. The Notice will lead to an order requiring them to take corrective measures, including replacing certain piping, evaluating the need for increased tank capacity at pump stations, revising its “Cold Restart Plan,” and proving the plan’s feasibility. |
ROBUST STATE PARTNERSHIP – PHMSA increased funding to its state pipeline safety partners, and is covering 54 percent of state pipeline safety program costs, totaling $66.5 million for 2009 and 2010. Since 2002, PHMSA has spent over $8 million to train local first responders to safely respond to pipeline emergencies. In addition to training all State pipeline inspectors on protocols, PHMSA works with the National Association of State Pipeline Safety Representatives to develop and provide national, regional, and State training. When incidents occur, PHMSA works closely with responding state and federal officials to determine the impact to the public and to provide as much investigative, legal, and technical assistance, as necessary. Recent examples include:
| Alaska | PHMSA assisted in the aftermath of a release on the North Slope involving a pipeline regulated by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. |
| California | PHMSA provided legal guidance and on-scene incident response, and continuing technical support related to the San Bruno incident . |
| Mississippi | To address significant safety issues on a municipal pipeline regulated by Mississippi, PHMSA informally consulted with the state pipeline safety office and the operator to draft the terms of a consent agreement to resolve certain safety issues, including replacing steal mains, valves, meters and regulators and odor bottle installations. |
| Puerto Rico | PHMSA responded to an oil pipeline discharge outside San Juan, and helped clarify jurisdiction between the Coast Guard, PHMSA and Puerto Rico. PHMSA also assisted in preparing violation and collecting evidence. |
PHMSA supported several damage prevention initiatives, including an 811 Call Before You Dig public awareness campaign and awarding 34 State Damage Prevention Grants for about $3 million.
PHMSA released fifty recommendations to help local governments, real estate developers, and community planners better plan projects in areas near transmission pipelines in the report prepared by the Pipeline and Informed Planning Alliance titled Partnering to Further Enhance Pipeline Safety in Communities through Risk-Informed Land Use Planning.
With respect to gas pipeline Distribution Integrity Management Programs (DIMP), PHMSA trained State inspections, helped develop state inspection forms, FAQs, and inspection guidance for implementing DIMP, and performed pilot inspections to validate and enhance inspection forms and guidance.
