# What are the requirements for using External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA)? **Citation:** 192.925 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** Arkansas Public Service Commission **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** Not stated § 192.925 What are the requirements for using External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA)? (a) Definition. ECDA is a four-step process that combines preassessment, indirect inspection, direct examination, and post assessment to evaluate the threat of external corrosion to the integrity of a pipeline ## Document text § 192.925 What are the requirements for using External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA)? (a) Definition. ECDA is a four-step process that combines preassessment, indirect inspection, direct examination, and post assessment to evaluate the threat of external corrosion to the integrity of a pipeline. (b) General requirements. An operator that uses direct assessment to assess the threat of external corrosion must follow the requirements in this section, in ASME B31.8S (incorporated by reference, see § 192.7), section 6.4, and in NACE SP0502 (incorporated by reference, see § 192.7). An operator must develop and implement a direct assessment plan that has procedures addressing pre-assessment, indirect inspection, direct examination, and post- assessment. If the ECDA detects pipeline coating damage, the operator must also integrate the data from the ECDA with other information from the data integration (§ 192.917(b)) to evaluate the covered segment for the threat of third party damage, and to address the threat as required by § 192.917 (e)(1). (1) Preassessment. In addition to the requirements in ASME B31.8S section 6.4 and NACE SP0502, section 3, the plan's procedures for preassessment must include - (i) Provisions applying more restrictive criteria when conducting ECDA for the first time on a covered segment; and (ii) The basis on which an operator selects at least two different, but complementary indirect assessment tools to assess each ECDA Region. If an operator utilizes an indirect inspection method that is not discussed in Appendix A of NACE SP0502, the operator must demonstrate the applicability, validation basis, equipment used, application procedure, and utilization of data for the inspection method. (2) Indirect inspection. In addition to the requirements in ASME B31.8S, section 6.4 and NACE SP0502, section 4, the plan's procedures for indirect inspection of the ECDA regions must include - (i) Provisions for applying more restrictive criteria when conducting ECDA for the first time on a covered segment; (ii) Criteria for identifying and documenting those indications that must be considered for excavation and direct examination. Minimum identification criteria include the known sensitivities of assessment tools, the procedures for using each tool, and the approach to be used for decreasing the physical spacing of indirect assessment tool readings when the presence of a defect is suspected; (iii) Criteria for defining the urgency of excavation and direct examination of each indication identified during the indirect examination. These criteria must specify how an operator will define the urgency of excavating the indication as immediate, scheduled or monitored; and (iv) Criteria for scheduling excavation of indications for each urgency level. (3) Direct examination. In addition to the requirements in ASME B31.8S section 6.4 and NACE SP0502, section 5, the plan's procedures for direct examination of indications from the indirect examination must include - (i) Provisions for applying more restrictive criteria when conducting ECDA for the first time on a covered segment; (ii) Criteria for deciding what action should be taken if either: (A) Corrosion defects are discovered that exceed allowable limits (Section 5.5.2.2 of NACE SP0502), or (B) Root cause analysis reveals conditions for which ECDA is not suitable (Section 5.6.2 of NACE SP0502); (iii) Criteria and notification procedures for any changes in the ECDA Plan, including changes that affect the severity classification, the priority of direct examination, and the time frame for direct examination of indications; and (iv) Criteria that describe how and on what basis an operator will reclassify and reprioritize any of the provisions that are specified in section 5.9 of NACE SP0502 (4) Post assessment and continuing evaluation. In addition to the requirements in ASME B31.8S section 6.4 and NACE SP0502, section 6, the plan's procedures for post assessment of the effectiveness of the ECDA process must include - (i) Measures for evaluating the long-term effectiveness of ECDA in addressing external corrosion in covered segments; and (ii) Criteria for evaluating whether conditions discovered by direct examination of indications in each ECDA region indicate a need for reassessment of the covered segment at an interval less than that specified in § 192.939. (See Appendix D of NACE SP0502.) ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `ar-car-pipeline-safety` - SHA-256: `d8c66b9f4d396a339731176d88f77d56d5bcb34ba7ed867a613b8fde56e8952b` - Retrieved: 2026-08-12T08:10:37.612Z - Exported: 2026-08-24T17:48:57.851Z - Document slug: `ar-car-23-500-192-925` ### Source metadata ```json { "jurisdiction": "US-AR", "subject": "intrastate-gas", "caveats": { "exactScope": "The searchable corpus contains every current numbered section, the code-wide definitions, and every operative appendix in official 23 CAR Part 500, plus direct pipeline rules 15 CAR sections 275-406 and 275-504. Reserved and removed provisions are inventory-only.", "excludedScope": "This is not all Arkansas pipeline law. Standalone statutes, dockets and orders, one-call law, utility rates and service, siting, environmental permits, highway crossings, local law, forms, and incorporated third-party standards are excluded. Other current AOGC gas and transportation rules are inventoried as adjacent production, conservation, storage, or fluid-transport material.", "applicabilityCaveat": "APSC administers certified intrastate gas safety downstream of producer custody transfer. AOGC section 275-406 separately reaches specified producer or producer-affiliated natural-gas systems. AOGC section 275-504 imposes state permitting and operational duties on specified hazardous-liquid pipelines, but PHMSA states that it directly inspects and enforces intrastate hazardous-liquid pipeline safety in Arkansas. Inclusion does not establish applicability to a particular facility.", "incorporationCaveat": "AOGC sections 275-406 and 275-504 use dynamic 'as amended' wording for federal Parts 190, 191, 192, 195, and 199. Part 500 is a state code that reproduces and modifies federal-derived gas provisions. References and relationship records do not substitute a retrieval-date federal text or decide the legal effect of incorporation.", "publicationCaveat": "The Code of Arkansas Rules identifies its online database as the official version, effective as a publication system January 1, 2025, updated weekly, and potentially behind recent agency rulemaking. The official Part 500 page reports Ark. R. 2026-6 effective January 8, 2026; its PDF is headed August 22, 2025 and Docket 25-025-R. Retrieval and site-update dates are publication observations, not inferred legal effective dates for every section.", "rights": "Official Arkansas and federal government artifacts are archived with attribution and SHA-256 provenance. Public access does not settle rights in seals, site presentation, forms, incorporated standards, or third-party material; downstream redistribution requires separate review." }, "rightsReviewRequired": true, "references": [], "codePart": "23 CAR pt. 500", "partEffectiveOn": "2026-01-08", "partEffectiveDateNotImputedToIndividualProvision": true, "federalDerivedStateCode": true, "sourceCollection": "ar-car-23-part-500", "region": "AR" } ```