Federal regulators and US crude oil pipeline owners and operators have made real progress in 2012, US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Chief Cynthia L. Quarterman said on Nov. 8. But government and industry will need to continue working closely to meet three main goals in 2013, she maintained.
"The election has finally come and passed," she told participants in the annual leadership meeting cosponsored by the American Petroleum Institute and the Association of Oil Pipelines. "The federal government is undergoing a transition—one less disruptive, perhaps, than if the administration had changed."
She continued, "In the meantime, however, pipelines aren't going to stop operating because of activity in Washington. There may be several moving parts over the next year, which is why it's especially important to step back, review our progress, and focus our efforts on next year's goals."
She listed three pipeline safety priorities: anticipating and averting high-consequence events; building and broadcasting to improve public understanding of safety efforts and risks; and cataloging and curtailing the highest risks.
PHMSA will continue efforts to refine integrity management rules with a draft hazardous liquid proposed rulemaking notice, Quarterman said. It also will examine results of an integrity management program study the National Transportation Safety Board requested when they are released later in 2012. "Next year, we will begin to use all those findings as we talk about IMP 2.0," she indicated.
As for the second priority, PHMSA's administrator said the US Department of Transportation agency has been able to conduct focused meetings and amplify "Call 811 Before You Dig" and other safety messages.
'Risk-informed'
"Also, please remember PIPA—the Pipelines and Informed Planning Alliance!" she urged. "I continue to ask that you support risk-informed development near transmission pipelines. Encourage your member companies to document and manage critical documents so that local governments and property developers can be fully informed when planning land use."
Finally, to catalog and curtail the biggest risks, Quarterman said that PHMSA will continue to push the Pipeline Safety Action Plan established by US DOT Sec. Ray LaHood.
"We need to better understand pipeline integrity challenges; repair, replace, or rehabilitate the highest risk infrastructure; identify construction, corrosion, material failure and any time-related challenges; and to ensure our pipeline systems are fit for service," she said. Part of this analysis will include increased research and development funding and work, she added.
That includes improving pipeline data. PHMSA moved a workshop on the subject from a week earlier to early January, but Quarterman still wants strong oil pipeline company participation. "We really do need more and better data to improve safety," she said.