Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.

(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline system a manual of written procedures for conducting normal operations and maintenance activities and handling abnormal operations and emergencies. This manual shall be reviewed at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar year, and appropriate changes made as necessary to insure that the manual is effective. This manual shall be prepared before initial operations of a pipeline system commence, and appropriate parts shall be kept at locations where operations and maintenance activities are conducted.

(b) The Administrator or the State Agency that has submitted a current certification under the pipeline safety laws (49 U.S.C. 60101 et seq.) with respect to the pipeline facility governed by an operator's plans and procedures may, after notice and opportunity for hearing as provided in 49 CFR 190.237 or the relevant State procedures, require the operator to amend its plans and procedures as necessary to provide a reasonable level of safety.

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

(1) Making construction records, maps, and operating history available as necessary for safe operation and maintenance.

(2) Gathering of data needed for reporting accidents under subpart B of this part in a timely and effective manner.

(3) Operating, maintaining, and repairing the pipeline system in accordance with each of the requirements of this subpart and subpart H of this part.

(4) Determining which pipeline facilities are located in areas that would require an immediate response by the operator to prevent hazards to the public if the facilities failed or malfunctioned.

(5) Analyzing pipeline accidents to determine their causes.

(6) Minimizing the potential for hazards identified under paragraph (c)(4) of this section and the possibility of recurrence of accidents analyzed under paragraph (c)(5) of this section.

(7) Starting up and shutting down any part of the pipeline system in a manner designed to assure operation within the limits prescribed by § 195.406, consider the hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide in transportation, variations in altitude along the pipeline, and pressure monitoring and control devices.

(8) In the case of a pipeline that is not equipped to fail safe, monitoring from an attended location pipeline pressure during startup until steady state pressure and flow conditions are reached and during shut-in to assure operation within limits prescribed by § 195.406.

(9) In the case of facilities not equipped to fail safe that are identified under paragraph 195.402(c)(4) or that control receipt and delivery of the hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide, detecting abnormal operating conditions by monitoring pressure, temperature, flow or other appropriate operational data and transmitting this data to an attended location.

(10) Abandoning pipeline facilities, including safe disconnection from an operating pipeline system, purging of combustibles, and sealing abandoned facilities left in place to minimize safety and environmental hazards. For each abandoned offshore pipeline facility or each abandoned onshore pipeline facility that crosses over, under or through commercially navigable waterways the last operator of that facility must file a report upon abandonment of that facility in accordance with § 195.59 of this part.

(11) Minimizing the likelihood of accidental ignition of vapors in areas near facilities identified under paragraph (c)(4) of this section where the potential exists for the presence of flammable liquids or gases.

(12) Establishing and maintaining liaison with fire, police, and other appropriate public officials to learn the responsibility and resources of each government organization that may respond to a hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide pipeline emergency and acquaint the officials with the operator's ability in responding to a hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide pipeline emergency and means of communication.

(13) Periodically reviewing the work done by operator personnel to determine the effectiveness of the procedures used in normal operation and maintenance and taking corrective action where deficiencies are found.

(14) 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.

(15) Implementing the applicable control room management procedures required by § 195.446.

(d) Abnormal operation. 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;

(v) Any other malfunction of a component, deviation from normal operation, or personnel error which could cause 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) Correcting variations from normal operation of pressure and flow equipment and controls.

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

(5) 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.

(e) Emergencies. The manual required by paragraph (a) of this section must include procedures for the following to provide safety when an emergency condition occurs:

(1) Receiving, identifying, and classifying notices of events which need immediate response by the operator or notice to fire, police, or other appropriate public officials and communicating this information to appropriate operator personnel for corrective action.

(2) Prompt and effective response to a notice of each type emergency, including fire or explosion occurring near or directly involving a pipeline facility, accidental release of hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide from a pipeline facility, operational failure causing a hazardous condition, and natural disaster affecting pipeline facilities.

(3) Having personnel, equipment, instruments, tools, and material available as needed at the scene of an emergency.

(4) Taking necessary action, such as emergency shutdown or pressure reduction, to minimize the volume of hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide that is released from any section of a pipeline system in the event of a failure.

(5) Control of released hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide at an accident scene to minimize the hazards, including possible intentional ignition in the cases of flammable highly volatile liquid.

(6) Minimization of public exposure to injury and probability of accidental ignition by assisting with evacuation of residents and assisting with halting traffic on roads and railroads in the affected area, or taking other appropriate action.

(7) Notifying fire, police, and other appropriate public officials of hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide pipeline emergencies and coordinating with them preplanned and actual responses during an emergency, including additional precautions necessary for an emergency involving a pipeline system transporting a highly volatile liquid.

(8) In the case of failure of a pipeline system transporting a highly volatile liquid, use of appropriate instruments to assess the extent and coverage of the vapor cloud and determine the hazardous areas.

(9) Providing for a post accident review of employee activities to determine whether the procedures were effective in each emergency and taking corrective action where deficiencies are found.

(10) Actions required to be taken by a controller during an emergency, in accordance with § 195.446.

(f) 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 § 195.55.

[Amdt. 195-22, 46 FR 38360, July 27, 1981; 47 FR 32721, July 29, 1982, as amended by Amdt. 195-24, 47 FR 46852, Oct. 21, 1982; Amdt. 195-39, 53 FR 24951, July 1, 1988; Amdt. 195-45, 56 FR 26926, June 12, 1991; Amdt. 195-46, 56 FR 31090, July 9, 1991; Amdt. 195-49, 59 FR 6585, Feb. 11, 1994; Amdt. 195-55, 61 FR 18518, Apr. 26, 1996; Amdt. 195-69, 65 FR 54444, Sept. 8, 2000; Amdt. 195-173, 66 FR 67004, Dec. 27, 2001; Amdt. 195-93, 74 FR 63329, Dec. 3, 2009]