Summary of Presentation
Federal Regulations: Working to Ensure Pipeline Safety
Allan Beshore, Community Assistance & Technical Services Manager
U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Office of Pipeline Safety, Central Region
Biography
Allan Beshore has been a Senior Engineer with the Central Region for over 10 years. Allan has been involved in a variety of accident investigation, inspection, compliance, and pipeline integrity assurance activities. His primary focus has been on gas integrity management programs and corrosion control. Allan transferred into the role of a Community Assistance and Technical Services Manager in 2011 and now enjoys interacting with a broad variety of pipeline safety stakeholders.
Prior to joining the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Allan was an Investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, a Manager and Engineer for natural gas transmission pipeline operators and an Inspector with the Missouri Public Service Commission. Allan has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Missouri.
Remarks
The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) is responsible for pipeline safety and hazardous materials safety. The Office of Pipeline Safety regulates 2.6 million miles of pipeline and supports various aspects of the industry such as electric generation and transportation systems. The mission of the agency is to protect people and the environment from risks of transporting hazardous materials by pipeline.
PHMSA regulates about 185,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines operated by 400+ entities and over 300,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines by 950 operators. The majority of pipelines throughout the country are gas distribution lines. PHMSA issues regulations for gas distribution lines, but most of the enforcement and inspection for gas distribution systems throughout the country is done at the state level. Here in Michigan, gas distribution systems are regulated and inspected by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).
Here is an image of the pipeline system in the United States. Red is hazardous liquid pipelines and blue is natural gas transmission pipelines.
Federal Regulations: Working to Ensure Pipeline Safety
Allan Beshore, Community Assistance & Technical Services Manager
U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Office of Pipeline Safety, Central Region
Biography
Allan Beshore has been a Senior Engineer with the Central Region for over 10 years. Allan has been involved in a variety of accident investigation, inspection, compliance, and pipeline integrity assurance activities. His primary focus has been on gas integrity management programs and corrosion control. Allan transferred into the role of a Community Assistance and Technical Services Manager in 2011 and now enjoys interacting with a broad variety of pipeline safety stakeholders.
Prior to joining the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Allan was an Investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, a Manager and Engineer for natural gas transmission pipeline operators and an Inspector with the Missouri Public Service Commission. Allan has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Missouri.
Remarks
The Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) is responsible for pipeline safety and hazardous materials safety. The Office of Pipeline Safety regulates 2.6 million miles of pipeline and supports various aspects of the industry such as electric generation and transportation systems. The mission of the agency is to protect people and the environment from risks of transporting hazardous materials by pipeline.
PHMSA regulates about 185,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines operated by 400+ entities and over 300,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines by 950 operators. The majority of pipelines throughout the country are gas distribution lines. PHMSA issues regulations for gas distribution lines, but most of the enforcement and inspection for gas distribution systems throughout the country is done at the state level. Here in Michigan, gas distribution systems are regulated and inspected by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).
Here is an image of the pipeline system in the United States. Red is hazardous liquid pipelines and blue is natural gas transmission pipelines.
|
Historically, there was a lot of energy production in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, so there are many miles of pipelines that originate in that part of the country and transport materials out to other areas.
There are approximately 185,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines throughout the county. Hazardous liquids are refined petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel), natural gas condensate, crude oil, highly volatile liquids (propane and ethane), anhydrous ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Seventy percent of the hazardous liquid pipelines involve interstate commerce. Ninety-three percent (93%) of U.S. transportation is fueled by oil and accounts for 17% of total freight transportation in the United States and 2% of the total freight bill. |
Because transportation via pipeline is a very efficient process, pipelines are the largest mode of transportation for oil and refined products, accounting for about 70%. The second largest mode of transportation for oil and refined products is maritime transportation; moving the products by barge accounts for over 20%. There are other alternative transportation modes for hazardous liquid transportation, including truck and rail, but these alternatives do not currently have the infrastructure to handle the total volume of oil transported. Trucks can hold about 9,000 gallons of oil or refined product and a railcar can hold approximately about 33,000 gallons. The capacity of Enbridge’s Line 5 is published at 540,000 barrels per day which equates to approximately 7,000 rail cars or over 2,500 tanker trucks.
Almost 100% of natural gas is moved around the U.S. by pipeline. Twenty five percent (25%) of energy consumed in the U.S. is transported by pipeline to approximately 70 million residential and commercial customers. There is also significant growth underway.
In Michigan, there are a little over 500 miles for pipeline for highly volatile liquids (HVL), which is propane, ethane, and other products that evaporate very quickly and are generally gaseous at ambient temperature. There are a little over 1,268 miles of crude oil pipeline, 1,415 miles of refined products pipeline, and about 8,700 miles of natural gas transmission lines. Pipeline mileage for Michigan and other states is available on the PHMSA website: http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/states.htm.
Almost 100% of natural gas is moved around the U.S. by pipeline. Twenty five percent (25%) of energy consumed in the U.S. is transported by pipeline to approximately 70 million residential and commercial customers. There is also significant growth underway.
In Michigan, there are a little over 500 miles for pipeline for highly volatile liquids (HVL), which is propane, ethane, and other products that evaporate very quickly and are generally gaseous at ambient temperature. There are a little over 1,268 miles of crude oil pipeline, 1,415 miles of refined products pipeline, and about 8,700 miles of natural gas transmission lines. Pipeline mileage for Michigan and other states is available on the PHMSA website: http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/states.htm.
|
Over the past years, the overall trend in serious accidents has been reducing. A serious accident is defined as an accident where there was a fatality or some number of injuries. In the last couple years, there has been a slight increase in significant accidents for hazardous liquid pipelines. The reason for the increase is not known; it is also not known if the increase is actually a trend or just a blip in the data. The highest cause of accidents is corrosion and equipment failure. Excavation damage used to be a primary reason for accidents, but significant attention and effort was put into reducing accidents and the number of incidents has subsequently declined (the green line on the graph to the right). Most of the problems associated with excavation damage are with the natural gas distribution systems in your neighborhoods where much construction and excavation activity occurs.
|
|
In Michigan, there is an average of 7 significant incidents and 1 serious incident with one fatality; this is based on a 3-year average from 2011-2013 for all pipeline systems. For the hazardous liquid pipelines, there were 2 significant incidents annually on average and an average of almost 800 barrels lost each year. There were no fatalities or injuries on hazardous liquid pipelines in Michigan during that 3 year period.
The headquarters for PHMSA is located in Washington, DC and there are regional offices in Kansas City, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, and Trenton, New Jersey. The Central Region, based out of Kansas City, oversees 12 states including Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The majority of staff time is spent conducting inspections, failure investigations, and stakeholder outreach.
There is much confusion and misunderstanding about what PHMSA actually does and doesn’t do. The agency does not authorize or approve pipelines, oversee pipeline siting or routing, or grant eminent domain authority - where people get their property condemned for a new pipeline to cross. PHMSA does not maintain or track commodity shipments. The agency does look at the products being transported to determine whether they are corrosive or whether internal corrosion is a threat to the integrity of the pipeline, but PHMSA does not monitor what is in the pipeline at any given time. PHMSA does not enforce right of way contract provisions, resolve disputes between pipeline operators and property owners, or conduct environmental remediation.
PHMSA has regulations pertaining to pipeline safety. There are 2 primary parts that apply to hazardous liquid pipelines: Part 195 – Transportation of Hazardous Liquid by Pipelines (which is the bulk of regulatory requirements for liquid lines) and Part 194 which requires response plans for onshore oil pipelines. Part 195 applies to these hazardous liquids: refined petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel), natural gas condensate, crude oil, highly volatile liquids (propane and ethane), anhydrous ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Some of the regulatory requirements include reporting; the design, materials selection, and construction process for new pipelines; pressure testing which is required upon completion of construction or if an operator wants to revise operating pressure; maintenance of facilities, including inspection of valves, aerial or foot patrols, and repairs; control of corrosion; integrity management regulations to periodically to assess the condition of the pipe and take action if any issues are found; employee qualification and training; public awareness; and damage prevention.
PHMSA is involved in the regulation and oversight of Enbridge’s Line 5. Projects of a certain size or that involve a certain number of miles of construction require notification to PHMSA. Enbridge submitted notification to increase capacity of Line 5 in May 2012. PHMSA met with Enbridge and got a briefing on what the project entailed, formed a special inspection, and upon completion of the project, reviewed their hydrostatic testing records. PHMSA also reviews inspections and mitigation activity for the Straits of Mackinac crossing. PHMSA has reviewed the original construction records and reviews the integrity assessments to make sure Enbridge is finding and fixing integrity threats that need to be addressed. PHSMA summarized efforts with respect to Enbridge Line 5 in response to an inquiry made by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) regarding the safety of the Enbridge pipeline running through Great Lakes waters. The Congressional inquiry and PHMSA responses can be accessed below:
Part 194 requires response plans for onshore oil pipelines. The plans must be submitted to PHMSA for review and approval and plans must be resubmitted every five years or if there is a significant change in information. The response plan for Enbridge Line 5 is the Superior Region Response Oil Plan, which was submitted, reviewed, and approved by PHMSA.
Enbridge Integrated Contingency Plan - Superior Region (#866) Response Zone
Please note this file is 578 pages long and 82MB in file size. High speed internet is recommended.
PHMSA is primarily focused on keeping product in the pipeline. Therefore, their role is more on preventing spills rather than responding to spills. PHMSA is not an emergency response agency and will not conduct environmental monitoring or remediation in the event of a pipeline failure. If an incident occurs, PHMSA does investigate the cause of the release, monitors the repairs, and make efforts to verify the future integrity of the pipeline. PHMSA also issues corrective action orders that can require operators to conduct additional inspections or additional repairs.
The headquarters for PHMSA is located in Washington, DC and there are regional offices in Kansas City, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, and Trenton, New Jersey. The Central Region, based out of Kansas City, oversees 12 states including Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The majority of staff time is spent conducting inspections, failure investigations, and stakeholder outreach.
There is much confusion and misunderstanding about what PHMSA actually does and doesn’t do. The agency does not authorize or approve pipelines, oversee pipeline siting or routing, or grant eminent domain authority - where people get their property condemned for a new pipeline to cross. PHMSA does not maintain or track commodity shipments. The agency does look at the products being transported to determine whether they are corrosive or whether internal corrosion is a threat to the integrity of the pipeline, but PHMSA does not monitor what is in the pipeline at any given time. PHMSA does not enforce right of way contract provisions, resolve disputes between pipeline operators and property owners, or conduct environmental remediation.
PHMSA has regulations pertaining to pipeline safety. There are 2 primary parts that apply to hazardous liquid pipelines: Part 195 – Transportation of Hazardous Liquid by Pipelines (which is the bulk of regulatory requirements for liquid lines) and Part 194 which requires response plans for onshore oil pipelines. Part 195 applies to these hazardous liquids: refined petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel), natural gas condensate, crude oil, highly volatile liquids (propane and ethane), anhydrous ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Some of the regulatory requirements include reporting; the design, materials selection, and construction process for new pipelines; pressure testing which is required upon completion of construction or if an operator wants to revise operating pressure; maintenance of facilities, including inspection of valves, aerial or foot patrols, and repairs; control of corrosion; integrity management regulations to periodically to assess the condition of the pipe and take action if any issues are found; employee qualification and training; public awareness; and damage prevention.
PHMSA is involved in the regulation and oversight of Enbridge’s Line 5. Projects of a certain size or that involve a certain number of miles of construction require notification to PHMSA. Enbridge submitted notification to increase capacity of Line 5 in May 2012. PHMSA met with Enbridge and got a briefing on what the project entailed, formed a special inspection, and upon completion of the project, reviewed their hydrostatic testing records. PHMSA also reviews inspections and mitigation activity for the Straits of Mackinac crossing. PHMSA has reviewed the original construction records and reviews the integrity assessments to make sure Enbridge is finding and fixing integrity threats that need to be addressed. PHSMA summarized efforts with respect to Enbridge Line 5 in response to an inquiry made by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) regarding the safety of the Enbridge pipeline running through Great Lakes waters. The Congressional inquiry and PHMSA responses can be accessed below:
- Letter to PHMSA to Senators
- PHMSA Response to Senators - January 2014
- PHMSA Response to Senators - April 2014
Part 194 requires response plans for onshore oil pipelines. The plans must be submitted to PHMSA for review and approval and plans must be resubmitted every five years or if there is a significant change in information. The response plan for Enbridge Line 5 is the Superior Region Response Oil Plan, which was submitted, reviewed, and approved by PHMSA.
Enbridge Integrated Contingency Plan - Superior Region (#866) Response Zone
Please note this file is 578 pages long and 82MB in file size. High speed internet is recommended.
PHMSA is primarily focused on keeping product in the pipeline. Therefore, their role is more on preventing spills rather than responding to spills. PHMSA is not an emergency response agency and will not conduct environmental monitoring or remediation in the event of a pipeline failure. If an incident occurs, PHMSA does investigate the cause of the release, monitors the repairs, and make efforts to verify the future integrity of the pipeline. PHMSA also issues corrective action orders that can require operators to conduct additional inspections or additional repairs.
