On October 1, 2015, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed changes to strengthen its hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations. The proposal aims to address mandates from the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (Pipeline Safety Act), which requires improvements in operation, maintenance, and inspection of hazardous liquids pipelines. The requirements were prompted by recent pipeline accidents, notably the 2010 crude oil spill near Marshall, Michigan, which released almost one million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River.
Based on the varying requirements, the PHMSA proposal is estimated to result in annual costs ranging from approximately $1,000 to $16.7 million for the different requirements, with aggregate costs of approximately $22.4 million, and annualized benefits of approximately $3.5 million to $17.7 million.
Among the key provisions, the PHMSA proposal would alter repair and replacement criteria for high-risk pipelines under the agency’s risk-based management framework by expanding the list of conditions that require immediate repair, shortening timelines for critical repairs, and tightening pressure test standards. The proposal would expand reporting requirements, and work toward a data- and risk-informed approach by requiring operators to integrate available data on the operating environment, pipeline condition, and manufacturing and construction defects to manage risk. It would require all hazardous liquids pipelines to incorporate leak detection systems and establish a timeline for inspections of pipelines affected by extreme weather events. In addition, it would also require annual assessments of protective measures for pipeline segments in High Consequence Areas (HCAs) and set a deadline for the use of internal inspection tools in new and replaced pipelines.
Originally published by EnerKnol.
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