CPUC General Order 112-F § 105 - DEFINITIONS

Commission or CPUC means the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California.#

Holders means any structure used to store gas, which either has a displacement of 500 or more cubic feet, or will contain 10,000 or more standard cubic feet of gas at its maximum design pressure, except that a pipeline which is used primarily for transmission or distribution of gas, but which also serves a storage function, is not a holder for purposes of this General Order.#

Inert gas means a gas which will not burn or support combustion, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide or mixtures of such gases.#

Utility means any person, firm, or corporation engaged as a public utility in transporting natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrocarbon gas, or any mixture of such gases for domestic, commercial, industrial, or other purposes.#

Operator means any utility, person or entity operating a natural gas transmission or distribution system, including master-meter distribution system subject to PU Code Section 4351-4361, or a propane gas (LPG) distribution system subject to PU Code Section 4451-4465.#

Vicinity means an area surrounding an event in which an Operator’s gas pipeline facilities could have been a contributing factor to the event.#

Public Attention means any event that escalates to a level that initiates calls/complaints concerning a common safety concern being submitted to an Operator from 10 or more individuals or organizations. This can include, for example, large scale reports of the smell of gas by customers in the vicinity of an Operator’s gas facilities. Public Attention criterion does not necessarily include an individual, or a crowd of persons, watching work being performed on company facilities.#

Covered Task means those tasks defined by 49 C.F.R §192.801, but also includes “new construction” in the federal definition of “covered task.” Accordingly, the commission defines a covered task that will be subject to the requirements of 49 CFR §§ 192.803 through 192.809 as an activity, identified by the Operator, that:#

(a)Is performed on a gas pipeline;#

(b)Is an operations, maintenance, or new construction task;#

(c)Is performed as a requirement of 49 CFR, Part 192; and#

(d)Affects the operation or integrity of the gas pipeline.#

High Consequence Area (HCA) is defined by 49 CFR §192.903, which allows two different methods to be used towards determining locations where HCAs exist. However, in an effort to be more conservative towards ensuring the safety in areas of more densely populated areas, the Commission restricts the use of Method 2 in 49 CFR §192.903, in determining HCAs to pipeline segments of 12-inches or less. Accordingly, the Commission modifies paragraph (2) of the High Consequence Area defined by 49 CFR §192.903 to read as follows:#

(2) The area within a potential impact circle of a pipeline 12-inches or less in diameter containing –#

HCAs newly identified through the Commission’s restriction on Method 2 shall be scheduled for baseline assessment in accordance with 49 CFR §192.905(c) and 49 CFR §192.921(f).#

Near-miss events mean unplanned or undesired events that adversely affect an Operator’s facilities or operations but do not result in injury, illness, damage, release of gas, loss of gas service, over-pressurization of gas pipeline facilities, or in a reportable incident, but had the potential to do so. Such events include, but are not limited to:#

(a)A subsurface pipeline facility not marked or mismarked for excavation purposes;#

(b)Excavation activity near a pipeline facility conducted without a valid Underground Service Alert ticket;#

(c)The incorrect, or unintentional, operation of a valve or pressure regulator;#

(d)An incorrectly mapped pipeline facility;#

(e)Work activity in which a standard, procedure, or process approved by an Operator was correctly applied but the activity, nonetheless, resulted in creating a situation or condition where damages or injuries could have easily occurred.#

Number of excavation tickets or Number of excavation damages reported per the data requirements of Section 123, Annual Reports, means to include all original and renewal notices received by the Operator from the applicable One-Call center.#