§ 250.906 - What must I do to obtain approval for the proposed site of my platform?

§ 250.906 What must I do to obtain approval for the proposed site of my platform?

(a) Shallow hazards surveys. You must perform a high-resolution or acoustic-profiling survey to obtain information on the conditions existing at and near the surface of the seafloor. You must collect information through this survey sufficient to determine the presence of the following features and their likely effects on your proposed platform:

(1) Shallow faults;

(2) Gas seeps or shallow gas;

(3) Slump blocks or slump sediments;

(4) Shallow water flows;

(5) Hydrates; or

(6) Ice scour of seafloor sediments.

(b) Geologic surveys. You must perform a geological survey relevant to the design and siting of your platform. Your geological survey must assess:

(1) Seismic activity at your proposed site;

(2) Fault zones, the extent and geometry of faulting, and attenuation effects of geologic conditions near your site; and

(3) For platforms located in producing areas, the possibility and effects of seafloor subsidence.

(c) Subsurface surveys. Depending upon the design and location of your proposed platform and the results of the shallow hazard and geologic surveys, the Regional Supervisor may require you to perform a subsurface survey. This survey will include a testing program for investigating the stratigraphic and engineering properties of the soil that may affect the foundations or anchoring systems for your facility. The testing program must include adequate in situ testing, boring, and sampling to examine all important soil and rock strata to determine its strength classification, deformation properties, and dynamic characteristics. If required to perform a subsurface survey, you must prepare and submit to the Regional Supervisor a summary report to briefly describe the results of your soil testing program, the various field and laboratory test methods employed, and the applicability of these methods as they pertain to the quality of the samples, the type of soil, and the anticipated design application. You must explain how the engineering properties of each soil stratum affect the design of your platform. In your explanation you must describe the uncertainties inherent in your overall testing program, and the reliability and applicability of each test method.

(d) Overall site investigation report. You must prepare and submit to the Regional Supervisor an overall site investigation report for your platform that integrates the findings of your shallow hazards surveys and geologic surveys, and, if required, your subsurface surveys. Your overall site investigation report must include analyses of the potential for:

(1) Scouring of the seafloor;

(2) Hydraulic instability;

(3) The occurrence of sand waves;

(4) Instability of slopes at the platform location;

(5) Liquefaction, or possible reduction of soil strength due to increased pore pressures;

(6) Degradation of subsea permafrost layers;

(7) Cyclic loading;

(8) Lateral loading;

(9) Dynamic loading;

(10) Settlements and displacements;

(11) Plastic deformation and formation collapse mechanisms; and

(12) Soil reactions on the platform foundations or anchoring systems.