State Safety Programs
State's have a key role to play in achieving pipeline safety. The federal government's Office of Pipeline Safety has overall responsibility for safety regulations, in much the same way as the FAA regulates airline safety. However, state and local governments have other very significant powers and responsibilities that are not available to the federal government, and these powers can contribute in significant ways to improving pipeline safety.
AOPL offers two position papers on the topic of state participation in pipeline safety.
One Call Centers
State law governs One Call centers, the purpose of which is to prevent oil spill accidents caused by people digging around pipelines. The One Call centers work by alerting underground facility operators of proposed excavation, who then inform excavators of the precise location of underground facilities such as oil pipelines.
Office of Pipeline Safety statistics show that excavation accidents spill more oil from pipelines in the field than any other single cause - about 35% of the spilled oil volume with another 8% coming from delayed spills as a result of previous undetected damage. That means excavation accidents spill 43% of the oil lost from the pipes that carry oil between contained oil processing areas such as tank farms, refineries or oil fields.
In 1998, a coalition of underground facility operators, construction contractors, states and One Call center organizations successfully supported enactment of federal One Call legislation, encouraging states to require One Call participation by all underground facilities and excavators and to focus on improving enforcement of the states' One Call laws. Tell me more about One Call centers.
Land Use
States have broad control over land use policy and can provide local governments with model zoning and land use planning guidance to provide appropriate separation between populated areas and pipelines, including standards for set back distances.
Environmental Permits
Environmental permitting and local routing decisions for new pipelines fall under the control of state pipeline safety and state environmental agencies. The environmental review process generally includes local governments through public hearing and comment periods.
Emergency Response
States provide leadership in emergency response planning, training and exercises in coordination with pipeline companies, federal regulators, and local and regional emergency response teams.
States require reporting of oil spills, and states oversee environmental cleanup and remediation following spills.
Intrastate Pipeline Inspection
States may join the Federal/State Partnership program for intrastate pipeline inspection and regulation. The following states have done so: Alabama, Arizona, California, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia.
State partners regularly participate in joint committees for discussing and making recommendations about risk management, compliance, damage prevention and other issues.
In addition, proposed changes in federal pipeline safety regulations are subject to public review. States are encouraged to participate in the hearing and comment process and can also petition for rule changes.
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