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Description
The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, which was signed into law on December 17, 2002, mandates significant changes and new requirements in the way that the natural gas industry ensures the safety and integrity of its pipelines. The law applies to natural gas transmission pipeline companies. Central to the law are the requirements it places on each pipeline operator to prepare and implement an "integrity management program," which among other things requires operators to identify so-called "high consequence areas (HCA)" on their systems, conduct risk analyses of these areas, perform baseline integrity assessments of each pipeline segment, and inspect the entire pipeline system according to a prescribed schedule and using prescribed methods. Companies were required to identify all HCAs by December 17, 2004, and submit specific integrity management programs to the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), Research and Special Projects Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. All pipeline segments within HCAs must be inspected and remediation plans (if required) completed by December 17, 2008, while non-HCA segments must be inspected by 2012. All segments must be reinspected on a 7-year cycle, with certain exceptions.
Other provisions of the law include:
- Participation in planned-excavation one-call notification programs
- Increased penalties for violations of safety standards
- Whistle-blower" protection for pipeline system employees
- Qualification programs for employees who perform sensitive tasks
- Authorization of some state participation in interstate pipeline oversight
- A required multi-agency program of research, development, demonstration and standardization to enhance the integrity of pipelines
- An interagency task force to expedite environmental reviews when necessary to expedite pipeline repairs
- Government mapping of the pipeline system and assembling pipeline operator contact information for public dissemination.
Impact
The cost of the legislation's new requirements to natural gas pipeline companies alone was initially estimated to be $11 billion over 20 years.1 Because the law allows OPS some discretion in the specification of assessment methodologies, OPS believes that the cost of implementation according to its specific rules will be considerably less-$4.7 billion over the same time period. OPS has estimated first-year implementation costs of the new regulations to be about $0.036 per thousand cubic feet.
1 Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Final Rule, Pipeline Safety: Pipeline Integrity Management in High Consequence Areas (Gas Transmission Pipelines), Docket No. RSPA-00-7666; Amendment 192-95; RIN 2137-AD54, pp 157 ff.
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