[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 3 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 342-344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-107]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Special Programs Administration
49 CFR Part 195
[Docket PS-140(b), Notice 4]
RIN 2137-AC34
Areas Unusually Sensitive to Environmental Damage
AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.
ACTION: Public workshop.
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SUMMARY: RSPA invites industry, government representatives, and the
public to a third workshop on unusually sensitive areas (USAs). The
workshop's purpose is to openly discuss the guiding principles for
determining areas unusually sensitive to environmental damage from a
hazardous liquid pipeline release. This workshop is a continuation of
the June 15-16, 1995 and October 17, 1995 workshops on USAs.
DATES: The workshop will be held on January 18, 1996 from 8:30 a.m. to
4 p.m. Persons who are unable to attend may submit written comments in
duplicate by February 5, 1996. However, persons submitting guiding
principles to be considered at the January 18 workshop must do so by
January 12, 1996. Interested persons should submit as part of their
written comments all material that is relevant to a statement of fact
or argument. Late filed comments will be considered so far as
practicable.
ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the U.S. Department of
Transportation, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Room 6200-04,
Washington, DC. Non-federal employee visitors are admitted into the DOT
headquarters building through the southwest entrance at Seventh and E
Streets, SW. Persons who want to participate in the workshop should
call (202) 366-2392 or e-mail their name, affiliation, and phone number
to samesc@rspa.dot.gov before close of business January 12, 1996. The
[[Page 343]]
workshop is open to all interested persons but RSPA may limit
participation because of space considerations and the need to obtain a
spectrum of views. Callers will be notified if participation is not
open.
Send written comments in duplicate to the Dockets Unit, Room 8421,
Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Identify the docket and notice numbers stated in the heading of this
notice.
All comments and docketed materials will be available for
inspection and copying in Room 8421 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
each business day. A summary of the workshop will be available from the
Dockets Unit about three weeks after the workshop.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christina Sames, (202) 366-4561, about
this document, or the Dockets Unit, (202) 366-5046, for copies of this
document or other material in the docket.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 49 U.S.C. 60109 requires the Secretary of
Transportation to:
Consult with the Environmental Protection Agency and
describe areas that are unusually sensitive to environmental damage if
there is a hazardous liquid pipeline accident, and
Establish criteria for identifying each hazardous liquid
pipeline facility and gathering line, whether otherwise subject to
regulation, located in an area unusually sensitive to environmental
damage in the event of a pipeline accident.
Consistent with the President's regulatory policy (E.O. 12866),
RSPA wants to accomplish this congressional mandate at the least cost
to society. Toward this end, RSPA is seeking early public participation
in the rulemaking process by holding public workshops at which
participants, including RSPA staff, may exchange views on relevant
issues. RSPA hopes these workshops will enable government and industry
to reach a better understanding of the problem and the potential
solutions before proposed rules are issued.
On June 15 and 16, 1995, RSPA held a public workshop to openly
discuss the criteria being considered to determine USAs (60 FR 27948;
May 26, 1995). Participants included representatives from the hazardous
liquid pipeline industry; the Departments of Interior, Agriculture,
Transportation, and Commerce; the Environmental Protection Agency; non-
government agencies; and the public. Participants at the workshop
requested that additional workshops be held to further discuss this
complex topic.
On October 17, 1995, RSPA held a second public workshop on USAs (60
FR 44824; August 29, 1995). The second workshop focused on developing a
process that can be used to determine if an area is unusually sensitive
to environmental damage. The American Petroleum Institute (API)
provided information on their current research on USAs and recommended
that the final definition consider the resource to be protected, the
likelihood of a given pipeline to impact that resource, and what can be
done to reduce the risk to the resource. Other participants recommended
integrating factors concerning the likelihood of a rupture occurring
and the severity of the consequence into the USA definition.
Participants at the workshop brainstormed guiding principles that
could be used when determining if a given area is a USA and possible
topics for additional USA workshops. API volunteered to conduct mini-
workshops to discuss some of the technical issues and to bring their
findings into larger forums.
The following is a summary of the guiding principles that were
discussed at the October 17 workshop or submitted after the workshop by
members of the pipeline industry or other Federal agencies. The guiding
principles are separated into two categories: Substance and Process.
Guiding principles on substance relate to the criteria that should be
included in the USA definition. Guiding principles on process relate to
how to evaluate the criteria to be included in the USA definition, the
process to create the USA definition, and how to apply the USA
definition. The lists are not prioritized or final. The lists sometimes
include more than one recommendation which may conflict with one
another. Conflicting views are labeled a. and b. under a common number
for comparison. RSPA invites comments on these recommended guiding
principles and invites submissions of additional guiding principles.
This list and any additional guiding principles that are submitted to
the docket before January 12 will be considered at the January 18
workshop:
Substance
1. Human health and safety are primary concerns.
2. Areas where there is serious threat of contamination to a
drinking water ``zone of influence'' should be considered USAs.
3a. A resource must be subject to or threatened by irretrievable
loss or injury before it can be considered a USA. or
3b. Areas where there is serious threat of contamination to a
significant environmental or cultural resource should be considered a
USA.
4a. USAs are biological or ecological in nature and should not
include cultural, economic, or recreational resources. Cultural,
economic, or recreational resources should be designated as separate
categories and viewed as distinct entities. or
4b. Consider cultural resources and Indian tribal concerns when
defining USAs.
5. Only areas in the trajectory of a potential spill, e.g. down
gradient, should be considered when determining USAs.
6. It is expected that no pipeline operator is required to collect
natural resources field data to determine USAs.
7. Highly volatile liquid (HVL) pipelines should not be included.
Process
1. The standards and criteria for resource sensitivity should be
uniform on a national basis such that equivalent resources receive
equivalent sensitivity assessments regardless of regionally based
priorities.
2. The government agencies should describe and identify USAs so
that the data will not be subject to various interpretations and will
be applied consistently.
3. USAs should be subject to a systematic review process since USAs
may change through time as species migrate, change location, or for
other reasons. The USA definition should be explicit and practical in
application.
4. The USA definition should be pilot tested, complete, and fully
defined before OPS uses the definition in rulemaking. Each part of the
USA definition should be pilot tested for validity, practicability, and
workability.
5. Sources of USA data should be readily available to the public
and uniform in criteria and standards.
6. Data quality objectives should include consistency, accuracy,
and extent of coverage.
7. The extent of how much additional geographic area a criterion
adds should be considered.
8. Risk elements mandated in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 60109 to NOAA's
Guidance for Facility and Vessel Response Plans (59 FR 14714; March 29,
1994) should be applied when determining USAs.
9. OPS should exempt operators that take proactive measures to
minimize the potential for spills from additional requirements to
protect USAs.
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10. Consultation with land or resource managers may be necessary
when operators consider a range of preventative measures in significant
environmental resource areas.
11. The process should clarify how sensitive areas are protected
under the Pipeline Safety Act of 1992 separate and apart from
protection under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
Several recommendations were made that RSPA has determined are
acceptable but are not guiding principles. These are:
1. Workshops for each phase of developing a USA definition should
include appropriate technical experts, representatives, and field
personnel with appropriate experience from agencies as well as
industry.
2. Public workshops should be used to gather information on the
criteria that will determine USAs. The USA definition should be
complete before its use in a rulemaking. The implementation of resource
assessment and protection under the USA definition could be phased.
3. All terms used in the USA definition should be defined.
4. National consistency in interpreting all definitions should be
the goal.
The following are the additional workshops that were recommended
during the October 17 workshop:
1. Guiding Principles Workshop.
2. Definitions of Terms Workshop.
3. Source Water Supply Workshop (Surface and Subsurface).
4. Biological Resources Workshop.
5. Cultural Resources and Indian Tribal Concerns Workshop.
6. Pilot Testing Process Workshop.
Persons interested in receiving a transcript of the first workshop
or the summary of the second workshop, material presented at the first
or second workshop, or comments submitted on the material presented in
the first or second public workshop notice should contact the Dockets
Unit at (202) 366-5046 and reference docket PS-140(b).
Issued in Washington, DC, on December 28, 1995.
Cesar DeLeon,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 96-107 Filed 1-3-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P
