95-21425. Increased Inspection Requirements

[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 29, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44821-44822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21425]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

49 CFR Parts 192 and 195

[Docket No. PS-141, Notice 1]
RIN 2137-AC38


Increased Inspection Requirements

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Public workshop notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a public workshop to discuss issues 
relevant to development of regulations requiring increased inspection 
of certain gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. The increased inspection 
would apply to all gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines 
under RSPA safety regulations in high-density population areas. In 
addition, hazardous liquid pipelines would have to be inspected in 
unusually sensitive environmental areas and at crossings of navigable 
waterways. Congress mandated the increased inspection regulations to 
reduce the risk of pipeline accidents due to structural defects.

DATES: The workshop will be on October 18, 1995, from 8:30 am to 4:00 
pm. Persons who want to participate in the workshop should call (703) 
218-1449 or e-mail their name, affiliation and phone number to 
[email protected] before close of business October 2, 1995. The 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.
    Persons who are unable to attend may submit written comments in 
duplicate by November 27, 1995. 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 9230-34, 
Washington, DC. Non-federal employee visitors are admitted into the DOT 
headquarters building through the southwest entrance at Seventh and E 
Streets, SW.
    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 material will be available for inspection 
and copying in Room 8421 between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm 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: L.M. Furrow, [phone], about 
this document or the Dockets Unit, [phone], for copies of this 
document or other material in the docket.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Pipelines can have various types of defects that threaten their 
structural integrity. These defects can originate during the 
manufacture of pipe (e.g., seam weld defects) or during construction of 
the pipeline (e.g., scratches, gouges, dents, and girth weld flaws). 
Later, during operation of the pipeline, more defects can occur that 
threaten pipeline integrity. These defects commonly include metal loss 
due to corrosion, environmental or fatigue cracking, and scratches, 
gouges, or dents caused by outside forces, usually excavation 
equipment.
    Defects that are not detected and removed can deteriorate or grow, 
causing pipeline accidents. For example, RSPA data show that in 1992, 
17 percent of the accidents on gas transmission and gathering systems 
were due to corrosion, 40 percent were due to outside force damage, and 
9 percent were due to material or construction defects. Similarly, on 
hazardous liquid pipelines, corrosion caused 20 percent of the 
accidents; outside forces, 22 percent; and material or construction 
defects, 17 percent.
    These data do not distinguish outside force accidents that occurred 
immediately on impact from accidents that occurred after impact because 
of a defect created by the impact. However, several major pipeline 
accidents have been attributed to undetected structural defects caused 
by an outside force. For example, on March 28, 1993, a 36-inch 
hazardous liquid pipeline failed near Reston, Virginia, spilling over 
400,000 gallons of diesel fuel into Sugarland Run Creek, an 
ecologically-sensitive tributary of the Potomac River. An investigation 
showed that outside force damage had probably occurred.
    The 102d Congress was concerned about the risk of pipeline failures 
caused by undetected structural defects. So, it directed DOT to issue 
regulations that require the periodic inspection of certain pipeline 
facilities (49 U.S.C. Sec. 60102(f)(2)). Under this congressional 
mandate, gas and hazardous liquid pipelines (except gas distribution 
lines) must be inspected in high-density population areas. In addition, 
hazardous liquid pipelines must be inspected in areas that are 
unusually sensitive to environmental damage in the event of a pipeline 
accident, and at crossings of navigable waterways. The regulations are 
to prescribe any circumstances in which inspections must be conducted 
with an instrumented internal inspection device. Where the device is 
not required, the regulations are to require the use of an inspection 
method that is at least as effective as using the device in providing 
for the safety of the pipeline.

II. Workshop

    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 a public workshop at which 
participants, including RSPA staff, may exchange views on relevant 
issues. RSPA hopes the workshop will enable government and industry to 
reach a better understanding of the problem and the potential solutions 
before proposed rules are issued.
    Workshop participants are encouraged to focus their remarks on 

[[Page 44822]]
    the following issues, but may address other issues as time permits and 
in supplementary written comments:
    A. Apart from internal inspection, are current DOT safety 
regulations that require periodic inspection of pipelines for corrosion 
and leaks sufficient under the mandate?
    B. What are the circumstances in which the regulations should 
require operators to use instrumented internal inspection devices?
    C. What defects should the regulations require the use of 
instrumented internal inspection devices to detect?
    D. What other inspection methods are as effective as using an 
instrumented internal inspection device?
    E. How should the regulations define areas of high-density 
population, areas unusually sensitive to environmental damage in the 
event of a pipeline accident, and navigable waterways.
    F. What are the per mile costs of inspection with instrumented 
internal inspection devices and the factors that determine those costs?

(49 U.S.C. Chapter 601)

    Issued in Washington, DC on August 24, 1995.
Richard B. Felder,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 95-21425 Filed 8-28-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P