98-17477. Pipeline Safety: National Pipeline Mapping System  

  • [Federal Register Volume 63, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 1, 1998)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 36030-36031]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 98-17477]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
    
    Research and Special Programs Administration
    [Docket No. RSPA-97-2426; Notice 2]
    
    
    Pipeline Safety: National Pipeline Mapping System
    
    AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.
    
    ACTION: Public workshops.
    
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    SUMMARY: RSPA invites natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid 
    pipeline operators, liquefied natural gas facility operations managers, 
    mapping specialists, federal and state government agencies, and the 
    public, to attend one of four public workshops on the national pipeline 
    mapping system (NPMS). This digital mapping system, when complete, will 
    show the location and selected attributes of the major natural gas 
    transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines and liquefied natural gas 
    facilities in the United States. At each of the workshops we will 
    provide: An overview of the NPMS; details on the types of information 
    OPS is requesting for the NPMS; facts about how we will use this 
    information; technical specifications for submitting attribute data, 
    geospatial data, and metadata; information about the national and state 
    repository system; and advice on how to convert paper maps to digital 
    data, should you want to convert.
    
    DATES AND LOCATIONS: Four workshops will be held:
      July 14-15--Adam's Mark Hotels and Resorts, Houston, TX, 2900 
    Briarpark Drive at Westheimer, (800) 436-2326;
      September 1-2--Hotel Arlington Heights, Arlington Heights, 
    IL, 75 W. Algonquin Road, (847) 364-7600;
    
    [[Page 36031]]
    
      September 23-24--ANA Hotel, San Francisco, CA, 50 Third 
    Street, (415) 974-6400;
      October 28-29--Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington DC, 10 
    Thomas Circle, (202) 842-1300.
        All workshops will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Specifics on registration and hotel 
    accommodation information are available on the OPS Homepage-- http://
    ops.dot.gov or may be obtained by calling Janice Morgan, (202) 366-
    2392.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Transportation's Office of 
    Pipeline Safety (OPS) is working with other federal and state agencies 
    and the pipeline industry to create a national pipeline mapping system. 
    The NPMS will be a digital mapping data base. This system, when 
    complete, will show the location and selected attributes of the major 
    natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines, and liquefied 
    natural gas facilities in the United States. This would include 
    information on interstate and intrastate natural gas transmission 
    pipelines and hazardous liquid transmission lines. This would not 
    include information on gas service lines, gas distribution lines, 
    gathering lines, flow lines, or spur lines.
        OPS will add additional data layers to the system, including layers 
    to describe population densities, areas unusually sensitive to 
    environmental damage, natural disaster probability and high-consequence 
    areas, hydrography, and transportation networks. OPS will use the 
    system to depict pipelines in relation to the public and the 
    environment, and to work with other government agencies and industry 
    during an incident.
        The NPMS will provide federal and state governments and the 
    pipeline industry with information on pipeline locations and their 
    proximity to safety sensitive areas. For example, these include places 
    where people live and work, community drinking water supplies, and 
    national parks and historical areas.
        The NPMS will consist of multiple state repositories and a single 
    national repository. The repositories will follow one mapping data 
    standard to digitize, convert, and process the data.
        DOT strongly urges all natural gas transmission and hazardous 
    liquid pipeline and liquefied natural gas facility operators to attend 
    one of these meetings and to voluntarily provide mapping data for 
    inclusion in the national pipeline mapping system. OPS will begin 
    requesting pipeline operators to submit digital data early in 1999. OPS 
    will accept paper data following collection of mapping data that has 
    already been digitized.
        Two Joint Government-Industry Pipeline Mapping Quality Action Teams 
    (MQAT) have worked to create the national pipeline mapping system 
    digital pipeline location and attribute layer. The teams are sponsored 
    by OPS, the American Petroleum Institute, the Interstate Natural Gas 
    Association of America, and the American Gas Association. Represented 
    on the teams are OPS, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of 
    Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of 
    Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the states of 
    Texas, Louisiana, California, New York, and Minnesota, and the natural 
    gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry.
        The first team, MQAT I, analyzed various mapping alternatives and 
    determined a cost-effective strategy for creating a reasonably accurate 
    depiction (plus or minus 500 feet, for a corridor width of 1,000 feet) 
    of transmission pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities in the 
    U.S. The findings of MQAT I are described in a report titled: 
    ``Strategies for Creating a National Pipeline Mapping System'.
        MQAT II implemented the strategies outlined by the first team. MQAT 
    II developed the national pipeline mapping data standards that will be 
    used to create the digital pipeline layer in the national pipeline 
    mapping system. These include standards for electronic data 
    submissions, paper map submissions, and metadata (data on the data). 
    The team has also developed standards that will be used by the pipeline 
    mapping repository receiving the pipeline information. Both standards 
    were pilot tested by state agencies, industry, and others to test the 
    exchange of data that met the standards. A copy of the standards can be 
    viewed and downloaded from the OPS Internet web site. The Internet web 
    site is http://ops.dot.gov. The standards can also be obtained by 
    calling (202) 366-4561.
        OPS has established a multi-phase approach to create the NPMS. This 
    approach will allow industry and government to efficiently upgrade 
    information in a manner that works with other business needs.
        OPS strongly urges all natural gas transmission and hazardous 
    liquid pipeline operators and liquefied natural gas facility operators 
    to provide mapping data. With federal and state agencies and operators 
    all contributing, we can save time and money. To be successful, we need 
    your help. Please attend one of four public workshops to learn how you 
    can participate.
    
        Issued in Washington, DC on June 25, 1998.
    Richard B. Felder,
    Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
    [FR Doc. 98-17477 Filed 6-30-98; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4910-60-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
07/01/1998
Department:
Research and Special Programs Administration
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Public workshops.
Document Number:
98-17477
Pages:
36030-36031 (2 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Docket No. RSPA-97-2426, Notice 2
PDF File:
98-17477.pdf