Articles

HISTORY OF PIPELINE SAFETY REGULATIONS

By Cesar de Leon, P.E.

BACKGROUND

The following is a brief discourse on the background, program, risk management, and application of the pipeline safety regulations.

Industry Pipeline Codes. On March 18, 1937, a large natural gas pipeline explosion in a schoolhouse in New London, Texas killed 298 children. As a result of that accident, Texas passed a law requiring that odorants be added to natural gas. Soon thereafter, many other states passed laws similar to the Texas odorant requirements.

In 1947, the industry established the American Standards Association (ASA) B31.1 Code "Air & Gas Piping Specifications" for the design and operation of gas pipelines. As a result of a spectacular accident in Rochester, NY, the gas and air piping specifications were separated with the establishment of ASA B31.1.1.8 (later shortened to ASA B31.8) "Gas Piping Specifications" in 1952. In 1958, further changes were made to the gas piping code, then called the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B31.8 Code "Pressure Piping, Gas Transmission and Distribution Systems." In 1935, the American Engineering Standards Committee published Code 31 as "An American Tentative Standard Code for Pressure Piping." Several revisions followed and in 1959, the code was separated with the publication of the American Standards Association (later ANSI) Code B31.4 for "Oil Transportation Piping Systems."

Federal Pipeline Safety Legislation. The following are some important aspects of some of the significant Congressional legislation on pipeline safety since enactment of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (NGPSA). Prior to 1968, the major interstate natural gas pipelines were designed, constructed, operated, and maintained according to industry standards, which had been adopted by many of the states. Twenty-five of twenty-six states that had adopted pipeline safety codes used the ANSI Code B31.8 "Pressure Piping, Gas Transmission and Distribution Systems."

As a result of a large and catastrophic gas transmission pipeline failure that resulted in 17 deaths in Natchitoches, LA in 1965, Congress enacted the NGPSA on August 12, 1968. Responsibility for administering the NGPSA was placed with the newly established Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) in the Department of Transportation (DOT). During the period from August 12, 1968 to

August 12, 1970, the Office of Pipeline Safety adopted ANSI B31.8 Code as interim standards. The OPS adopted 49 CFR Parts 191 (35 FR 317; January 8, 1970) which governed reporting requirements and Part 192 (35 FR 13248; August 12, 1970), based on the ANSI B31.8 Code, for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of natural gas pipeline facilities.

Since 1967, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under DOT had authority to regulate the pipeline transportation of hazardous liquids, which included petroleum. In June 1967, the FRA issued general regulations on accident reporting applicable to hazardous liquid pipelines (32 FR 16040; June 29, 1967) under the Transportation of Explosives Act. In 1969, the FRA issued 49 CFR Part 195 (34 FR 15473; October 4, 1969), which was based on ANSI B31.4 Code, regulations for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of pipelines carrying hazardous liquids and petroleum products. In 1972, Congress transferred authority to regulate liquid pipeline safety from the FRA to the OPS.

In 1974, Congress created the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate transportation accidents to determine what safety improvements could be recommended through legislation or rulemaking. As of the end of 1997, NTSB has made more than 200 recommendations to DOT regarding pipeline safety.

In 1979, Congress enacted the Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 (Pub. L. 96-129; November 30, 1979) that clarified that OPS’ regulatory authority extended to liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and created a new statute, the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 (HLPSA), regulating the safety of hazardous liquid pipelines. OPS published Part 193 regulations on LNG in several rulemakings from 1980-1982. In 1980, DOT promulgated administrative enforcement procedures in Part 190 (cite, November 21, 1988).

In 1988, an amendment to the HLPSA (Pub. L. 100-561; October 31, 1988), gave DOT authority to regulate pipeline facilities that transport carbon dioxide. In 1985, Congress enacted the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act which authorized DOT to collect user fees from all pipelines. In 1991, RSPA published Part 198 establishing regulations for grants to aid state pipeline safety programs (55 FR 38688; September 20, 1991).

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-380; August 18, 1990) amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and in 1991, DOT was delegated authority to establish requirements for the prevention and response of oil spills from pipelines. In 1993, RSPA issued an interim final rule, Part 194 (58 FR 244; January 5, 1993) establishing pipeline spill response plans requirements for onshore pipelines. Also in 1990 (Pub. L. 101-599; November 16, 1990), Congress mandated regulations to improve navigational safety and reduce collisions between fishing vessels and offshore pipelines.

In 1992 (Pub. L. 102-508; October 24, 1992), Congress expanded DOT’s responsibilities to include protection of the environment from pipeline failures and required many new studies and regulations, including emergency flow restricting devices, operator qualification, instrumented internal inspection devices, excess flow valves, defining gathering lines, and customer-owned service lines. In 1996, Congress passed the Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act (Pub. L. 104-304; October 12, 1996) that authorized a demonstration program for pipeline risk management. The NGPSA and HLPSA were recodified at 49 U.S.C. 60101 et seq. (Pipeline Safety Law) under Pub. L. 103-420 enacted on October 31, 1994. This recodification deleted NGPSA and HLPSA.

Federal Pipeline Safety Program. The Pipeline Safety Law provides for Federal authority for regulation of interstate pipeline facilities, and a cooperative federal/state gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety program, where certifying state agencies could assume responsibility for administering the pipeline safety program for intrastate pipelines within the state. The DOT provides grant funding up to 50% of state program costs to support states in conducting intrastate gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety programs; ensures operator compliance through a risk-based pipeline inspection plan and use of enforcement actions as a deterrent against violators; collects and analyzes pipeline safety and operating data; and through the Transportation Safety Institute, conducts training for government and industry personnel in application of pipeline safety regulations and risk-management. The state agencies participating in the program may issue more stringent, but not inconsistent, regulations than the Federal regulations for intrastate pipelines subject to the state’s authority.

The Pipeline Safety Law also established a Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (TPSSC) and a Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (THLPSSC), each committee comprised of fifteen industry, government, and state pipeline experts to review, advise, and comment on pipeline safety issues and proposed federal regulation prior to final adoption. Pursuant to Section 60301 of Title 49 of the United States Code, the DOT assesses and collects annual fees from the pipeline industry to fund the cost of the Department’s pipeline safety program.

Gas Piping Technology Standards/Technology Committee. After the promulgation of federal pipeline safety standards in Parts 191 and 192, the ANSI B31.8 Committee realized that they could no longer publish a standard to cover gas piping systems where Part 192 had jurisdiction. When issuing Parts 191 and 192, the OPS stated that : (1) regulations were to be written as performance requirements rather than detailed specifications to the maximum extent possible with the technical knowledge available; (2) regulations will not contain any recommendations or cautionary notes; and (3) if there is a need for OPS to publish advisory material to the regulations, it will be published outside of the government regulations. Because OPS was to write performance regulations rather than detailed specifications, an agreement was struck between OPS and the ANSI B31.8 Committee that the OPS would encourage the publication of the Federal regulations in a Gas Piping Technology Standards (GPTS) Guide that would incorporate a "how-to" guide for each section of the performance regulations in Part 192.

In 1974, the ANSI B31.8 Committee was reestablished to continue the B31.8 Code to use in foreign countries that do not have a national code. Because the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) was sponsoring competing standards, i.e., ASME (previously, ANSI) B31.8 Code and the GPTS Guide, and because the GPTS Guide was not a standard, the title was changed to the Gas Piping Technology Committee (GPTC) in 1982. In 1992, the GPTC Committee dissociated from the ASME and administrative support is now sponsored by the American Gas Association. The GPTC Guide is now the ANSI Z-380 Code.

As stated in the GPTC Guide, the recommendations contained in the Guide are based on sound engineering principles developed by a balanced committee (includes representatives from industry state agencies, DOT, and manufacturers) in accordance with accepted committee procedures and must be applied by the use of sound and competent engineering judgment. The guide material is advisory in nature and should not restrict the operator from using other methods of complying with the Federal standards. In addition, the operator is cautioned that the guide material may not be adequate under all conditions encountered. Following the Guide does not ensure that an operator is automatically in compliance with the requirements of Part 191 and Part 192.

Risk Management. Under Section 5 of the Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act of 1996, OPS must establish a Pipeline Risk Management Demonstration Program, with certain safeguards set by the President’s memorandum regarding this risk management demonstration program. The President’s memorandum includes the following provisions:

- Accepting projects that can achieve superior safety and environmental protection.

- Enabling full and meaningful participation by affected communities and constituencies in risk management project approval.

- Using orders ensuring that the requirements in risk management projects are subject to full enforcement authority.

- Limiting the number of demonstration projects to 10.

- Limiting participation to operators with clear and established records of compliance with respect to safety and environmental conditions.

Risk management should provide pipeline owners and operators greater flexibility in their choice of safety-related activities than under the current OPS regulations. Risk management is intended to enable a company to customize its safety program to address its pipeline’s particular risks.

The demonstration programs, which are to run for four years, are scheduled to start in 1998.

United States Pipelines. The total pipeline network in the United States subject to the authority of the DOT is about 1.8 million miles owned and operated by about 2,500 natural gas pipeline operators and 250 liquid pipeline operators. The number of natural gas pipeline operators does not include master meter systems that transport natural gas in very small pipeline systems, such as trailer parks, housing projects, and similar gas systems.

There are currently about 55 million gas service lines serving residences and businesses in the country. RSPA has authority over the following approximate mileage of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines in the United States, Puerto Rico, and on the Outer Continental Shelf:

- 32,000 miles of gathering lines

- 290,000 miles of gas transmission pipelines

- 890,000 miles of gas distribution mains

- 360,000 miles of gas service lines (assuming an average length of 35 feet per service)

- 155,000 miles of petroleum and carbon dioxide pipelines

There are additional thousands of gathering lines and production lines in oil and gas production fields that are not currently covered by the federal pipeline safety regulations.

Pipeline transportation is the safest way of transporting natural gas or hazardous liquid, as shown in yearly transportation safety surveys by the National Transportation Safety Board. There has been about a 50% reduction in pipeline failures, deaths, and injuries from 1971 to 1995, as shown in the table.

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