Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.

(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline, a manual of written procedures for conducting operations and maintenance activities and for emergency response. For transmission lines, the manual must also include procedures for handling abnormal operations. This manual must be reviewed and updated by the operator at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar year. This manual must be prepared before operations of a pipeline system commence. Appropriate parts of the manual must be kept at locations where operations and maintenance activities are conducted.

(b) Maintenance and normal operations. The manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must include procedures for the following, if applicable, to provide safety during maintenance and operations.

(1) Operating, maintaining, and repairing the pipeline in accordance with each of the requirements of this subpart and subpart M of this part.

(2) Controlling corrosion in accordance with the operations and maintenance requirements of subpart I of this part.

(3) Making construction records, maps, and operating history available to appropriate operating personnel.

(4) Gathering of data needed for reporting incidents under Part 191 of this chapter in a timely and effective manner.

(5) Starting up and shutting down any part of the pipeline in a manner designed to assure operation within the MAOP limits prescribed by this part, plus the build-up allowed for operation of pressure-limiting and control devices.

(6) Maintaining compressor stations, including provisions for isolating units or sections of pipe and for purging before returning to service.

(7) Starting, operating and shutting down gas compressor units.

(8) Periodically reviewing the work done by operator personnel to determine the effectiveness, and adequacy of the procedures used in normal operation and maintenance and modifying the procedures when deficiencies are found.

(9) Taking adequate precautions in excavated trenches to protect personnel from the hazards of unsafe accumulations of vapor or gas, and making available when needed at the excavation, emergency rescue equipment, including a breathing apparatus and, a rescue harness and line.

(10) Systematic and routine testing and inspection of pipe-type or bottle-type holders including—

(i) Provision for detecting external corrosion before the strength of the container has been impaired;

(ii) Periodic sampling and testing of gas in storage to determine the dew point of vapors contained in the stored gas which, if condensed, might cause internal corrosion or interfere with the safe operation of the storage plant; and

(iii) Periodic inspection and testing of pressure limiting equipment to determine that it is in safe operating condition and has adequate capacity.

(11) Responding promptly to a report of a gas odor inside or near a building, unless the operator's emergency procedures under § 192.615(a)(3) specifically apply to these reports.

(12) Implementing the applicable control room management procedures required by § 192.631.

(c) Abnormal operation. For transmission lines, the manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must include procedures for the following to provide safety when operating design limits have been exceeded:

(1) Responding to, investigating, and correcting the cause of:

(i) Unintended closure of valves or shutdowns;

(ii) Increase or decrease in pressure or flow rate outside normal operating limits;

(iii) Loss of communications;

(iv) Operation of any safety device; and

(v) Any other foreseeable malfunction of a component, deviation from normal operation, or personnel error, which may result in a hazard to persons or property.

(2) Checking variations from normal operation after abnormal operation has ended at sufficient critical locations in the system to determine continued integrity and safe operation.

(3) Notifying responsible operator personnel when notice of an abnormal operation is received.

(4) Periodically reviewing the response of operator personnel to determine the effectiveness of the procedures controlling abnormal operation and taking corrective action where deficiencies are found.

(5) The requirements of this paragraph (c) do not apply to natural gas distribution operators that are operating transmission lines in connection with their distribution system.

(d) Safety-related condition reports. The manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must include instructions enabling personnel who perform operation and maintenance activities to recognize conditions that potentially may be safety-related conditions that are subject to the reporting requirements of § 191.23 of this subchapter.

(e) Surveillance, emergency response, and accident investigation. The procedures required by §§ 192.613(a), 192.615, and 192.617 must be included in the manual required by paragraph (a) of this section.

[Amdt. 192-71, 59 FR 6584, Feb. 11, 1994, as amended by Amdt. 192-71A, 60 FR 14381, Mar. 17, 1995; Amdt. 192-93, 68 FR 53901, Sept. 15, 2003; Amdt. 192-112, 74 FR 63327, Dec. 3, 2009]