[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4134-4136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1497]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0421]
Pipeline Safety: Leak Detection on Hazardous Liquid Pipelines
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; DOT.
ACTION: Notice; Issuance of Advisory Bulletin.
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SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) is issuing this Advisory Bulletin to advise and remind
hazardous liquid pipeline operators of the importance of prompt and
effective leak detection capability in protecting public safety and the
environment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Mayberry by phone at 202-366-5124
or by e-mail at [email protected] regarding the subject matter of
this Advisory Bulletin,
[[Page 4135]]
or the Dockets Unit, 202-366-4453, for copies of this Advisory Bulletin
or other material in the docket. All materials in this docket may be
accessed electronically at http://dms.dot.gov. General information
about the PHMSA Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) can be obtained by
accessing OPS's Internet home page at http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Pipeline leak detection is one of the many layers of protection in
PHMSA's approach to protecting people and the environment. The federal
hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations require pipeline operators
to deploy a comprehensive set of safety measures to protect the public
and the environment including an effective means of identifying and
responding to hazardous liquid pipeline leaks at the earliest possible
time. Pipeline operators are continuously improving the cumulative
performance of these interconnected layers of protections, including
advances in leak detection systems. These protections include, but are
not limited to: Customized leak detection technology deployment;
periodic risk-based assessment and defect repair prioritized by
environmental and safety consequences; corrosion management; pipeline
right-of-way surveillance; public awareness activities resulting in
enhanced citizen leak condition recognition and response; emergency
preparedness and coordinated response, including ongoing liaison
efforts with emergency responders; and a review and incorporation of
lessons learned from accident analyses and investigations.
Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a
safety study on pipeline Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA) systems (NTSB/SS-05/02). The number of hazardous liquid
accidents investigated by the NTSB in which leaks went undetected after
indications of a leak on the SCADA interface was the impetus for this
study. The NTSB examined 13 hazardous liquid pipeline accidents that
they investigated from April 1992 to October 2004. The conclusions made
by the NTSB in the study reflected the importance of monitoring
systems, promptly recognizing leak incidents, and minimizing damage
with quick response. PHMSA encourages all hazardous liquid pipeline
operators to review the safety study which is available on the NTSB
webpage.
Under current regulations, all hazardous liquid pipeline operators
are required to periodically patrol their pipeline right-of-ways. This
effort is performed principally to guard against third-party activity
that has the potential to damage the pipeline, and is also performed to
detect very small leaks not detected by other means. Often, the leaking
product has impacted vegetation or has pooled on the surface, and
therefore leaves visual cues. Conducting these surveillance activities
is very important, but they are not sufficient on their own to address
all aspects of leak detection. Hazardous liquid pipeline operators are
also expected to track product movement along the pipelines in order to
ensure that all product going into the pipeline arrives at interim
storage points, and eventually reaches its destination. This
traditional and basic method of leak detection by tracking product
movement is essential to an understanding of line balance. Relatively
short pipelines, operating with a single source and a single
destination, can usually perform this process rather simply, if
adequate and timely information is made available. With these more
simple pipelines, the line balance technique for leak detection can
often be performed with manual calculations, without the need of a
computerized process. Those pipeline operators with longer and more
complex systems, with multiple sources and/or destinations, are more
dependent on computerized processes to perform a thorough product
tracking resulting in a leak detection process. The more complex a
pipeline operation, especially when carrying numerous products through
batch operations, the greater the need for a sophisticated leak
detection process.
Currently, there are 421 hazardous liquid pipeline operators. Two
hundred and twenty of the operators have pipelines less than 50 miles
long, 96 operators have pipelines 50 to 250 miles long, and 105
operators have pipelines longer than 250 miles in length. Many of the
operators with higher mileage have configured their pipelines into
networks, sometimes collecting product from multiple sources and
delivering product to multiple destinations, making the leak detection
process complex. At the same time, we recognize that in some cases the
engineering analysis performed on point-to-point pipeline systems has
determined that installing a computer-based leak detection system does
not offer substantial improvements in leak detection capability beyond
that of a simple manual line balance calculation process.
Under 49 CFR 195.444, pipeline operators using a computer-based
leak detection system are required to comply with API RP 1130. Pipeline
operators who do not employ computerized leak detection still need to
safely and effectively perform the basic process of monitoring flow and
pressure to detect large pipeline breaks. The line balance processes
incorporating SCADA or other technology are geared to find less obvious
failures such as partial line breaks and smaller leaks not apparent in
general flow and pressure monitoring. When a pipeline operator has
determined or selected to use a traditional line balance process
through manual calculation, it is PHMSA's expectation that these
operators would have systems configured and staffed in such a manner as
to routinely, safely and accurately perform this manual calculation
process at a maximum of one-hour intervals. The appropriate interval
should be determined by engineering review, but should not exceed one
hour. This hourly process is especially important any time product is
flowing; but since leaks can occur at any time, all unexplained meter
movements or pressure changes should be promptly investigated to
minimize potential leak durations even if a line segment is shutdown.
In addition, operators need to ensure open and regular communication
between all active source and delivery points along the pipeline,
either through verbal communication or through the use of SCADA or
other similar technology.
Operators of point-to-point hazardous liquid pipeline systems are
obligated to have a prompt and effective means of detecting and
responding to leaks. In order to ensure the safe and environmentally
sound operation of their hazardous liquid pipelines, the operating
plans and procedures required by the pipeline safety regulations should
include the performance of an engineering analysis to determine if a
computerized leak detection system is necessary and appropriate. If the
analysis determines that a computerized leak detection system is
unnecessary, the operator should perform a line balance calculation and
review process at no greater than one-hour intervals whenever product
is flowing through the line, and monitor for pressure changes, meter
movement and tank level changes even when the line is not flowing. As
part of the recordkeeping requirements under current regulations,
operators must retain documentation from any related engineering
analyses for the computerized leak detection and line balance
considerations to demonstrate the thoroughness of review during an
inspection.
[[Page 4136]]
II. Advisory Bulletin ADB-10-01
To: Owners or Operators of Hazardous Liquid Pipelines.
Subject: Leak Detection on Hazardous Liquid Pipelines.
Advisory: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) is advising and reminding hazardous liquid
pipeline operators of the importance of prompt and effective leak
detection capability in protecting public safety and the environment.
In order to ensure the safe and environmentally sound operation of
their hazardous liquid pipelines, the operating plans and procedures
required by the pipeline safety regulations should include the
performance of an engineering analysis to determine if a computer-based
leak detection system is necessary to improve leak detection
performance and line balance processes. If an operator that does not
have a computer-based leak detection system performs an engineering
analysis and determines that such a system would not improve leak
detection performance and line balance processes, the operator should
perform the periodic line balance calculation process outlined herein
and take any other necessary actions required to ensure public safety
and protect the environment.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 19, 2010.
Jeffrey D. Wiese,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 2010-1497 Filed 1-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P