{"operation":"document","citation":"PI-76-042","title":"ADB 76-8 — Pipeline Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"1976-07-28","effective_on":null,"summary":"PI-76-042 response to ADB 76-8 concerning 192.227, 192.229, 195.212.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-76-042.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-76-042.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-76-042","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/Pipeline/1976/PI76042.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nAdvisory Bulletin No. 76-8 August, 1976 _\nRelates to 49 CFR, Part 192\nFEDERAL GAS PIPELINE SAFETY STANDARDS AMENDED FOR OFFSHORE\nFACILITIES...On August 9, 1976, the Materials Transportation Bureau (MTB) issued an\namendment to the Federal gas pipeline safety standards to modify many of the design,\nconstruction, testing, operation, and maintenance regulations in 49 CFR Part 192 as they relate to\ngas pipeline facilities and the transportation of gas offshore in or affecting interstate or foreign\ncommerce. The amendment also enlarges the scope of Part 192 by deleting the exemption in\nSection 192.1 for certain rural gathering lines located offshore. The regulations will apply to the\noffshore gathering of gas downstream from the outlet flange of each facility on the outer\ncontinental shelf where hydrocarbons are produced or where produced hydrocarbons are first\nseparated, dehydrated, or otherwise processed, whichever facility is farther downstream. Purpose\nof the amendment is to more clearly delineate the applicability of Part 192 to offshore gas\npipelines and to better assure the safe operation of those pipelines.\nNew or amended provisions cover offshore facilities as they relate to sections on scope of part,\ndefinitions, class locations, general provisions, design factor for steel pipe, support and anchors,\ndesign and construction of compressor stations, emergency shutdown of compressor stations,\ntransmission line valves--repair or removal of defects, protection from hazards, installation of pipe\nin a ditch, cover over buried transmission line, external corrosion control monitoring, external\ncorrosion control test stations, atmospheric corrosion control monitoring, maximum allowable\noperating pressure for steel or plastic pipelines, transmission lines--leakage surveys, transmission\nlines--permanent field repair of imperfections and damages and permanent field repair of leaks,\nand abandonment or inactivation of facilities.\nThe amended regulations generally become effective on November 1, 1976. However, additional\nlead time to August 1, 1977, is provided for certain sections identified in the amendment.\nReprints of Amendment 192-27, Docket No. OPS-30 (41 Fed. Reg. 34598, August 16, 1976), are\nbeing sent to those parties on the appropriate OPSO mailing lists.\nRelates to 49 CFR, Part 195\ndal\\192\\227\\76-08\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nFEDERAL PIPELINE SAFETY STANDARDS FOR OFFSHORE LIQUID PIPELINES\nAMENDED...On August 9, 1976, the MTB issued an amendment to the Federal liquid pipeline\nsafety standards, particularly as they apply to offshore pipeline facilities. The amendment modifies\nmany of the design, construction, testing, operation, and maintenance regulations in 49 CFR Part\n195 as they relate to offshore transportation by pipeline in interstate or foreign commerce of\nhazardous materials, petroleum, or petroleum products. It also enlarges the scope of Part 195 by\ndeleting the exemption in Section 195.1(b)(4) for rural gathering lines located offshore.\nRegulations will apply to transportation in offshore pipelines which are located downstream from\nthe outlet flange of each facility on the outer continental shelf where hydrocarbons are produced\nor where produced hydrocarbons are first separated, dehydrated, or otherwise processed,\nwhichever facility is farther downstream.\nThe purpose of the amendment is to more clearly delineate the applicability of Part 195 to\noffshore liquid pipelines and to better assure the safe operation of those pipelines. In accordance\nwith Section 8(a) of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 USC 1507 (a)), the offshore pipelines\nsubject to the regulations in Part 195 and this amendment include the pipeline facilities which are\npart of a deepwater port. Most of the amendments pertain to steel pipelines which are the ones\ncommonly used offshore. Provisions of the amendment cover offshore liquid pipeline facilities in\nthe specific subject areas of scope, internal design pressure, welds--repair of defects, welds--\nnondestructive testing and retention of testing records, external coating, cathodic protection\nsystem, installation of pipe in a ditch, cover over buried pipeline, valves--general, valves--location,\ntest medium, general requirements, and cathodic protection. The amendments become effective\non November 1, 1976, except that additional lead time to August 1, 1977, is provided for specific\nsections. Reprints of Amendment 195-11, Docket No. OPSO-35 (41 Fed. Reg. 34035, August\n12, 1976), are being sent to those parties on the appropriate OPSO mailing lists.\nRelates to 49 CFR, Part 195\nDOT AUGMENTS SAFETY MONITORING ACTIVITIES ON THE TRANS-ALASKA\nPIPELINE SYSTEM...In recent weeks, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and its MTB\nand OPSO have taken several actions with regard to the monitoring of construction work on the\nTrans-Alaska Pipeline System. Early in July, Deputy Secretary of Transportation John W.\nBarnum announced the following courses of action: (1) To identify all the girth welds that do not\nmeet the prescribed DOT standards, to have the irregularities corrected, and to assure that the\nremainder of the construction work is carefully monitored to prevent any recurrence of the\nproblem; (2) Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has been directed to furnish DOT a plan and a\nschedule for correcting all welding deficiencies, actions which will be verified to assure\ncompliance; (3) Retired Coast Guard Rear Admiral Joseph Steele was named to head an onsite\nDOT task force to monitor pipeline progress during the balance of the 1976 construction season;\n(4) Two members of the DOT's Office of Pipeline Safety Operations are conducting onsite overall\ndal\\192\\227\\76-08\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nsurveillance; and (5) Five additional DOT welding experts were sent to inspect welding and\nradiography of girth welds.\nThe Deputy Secretary of DOT, along with representatives of other concerned Federal agencies,\nconducted an onsite inspection of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in July to further assess the\nsituation and to consider new pipeline testing methods.\nRelates to 49 CFR, Part 195\nDOT PERSONNEL TESTIFY BEFORE HOUSE AND SENATE COMMITTEES ON\nALASKA WELDING PROBLEMS...DOT, MTB, and OPSO personnel recently testified before\ntwo Congressional Committees on matters relating to the Trans-Alaska pipeline. On June 21,\nDeputy Secretary of Transportation John W. Barnum, MTB Director James T. Curtis, Jr., OPSO\nActing Director Cesar DeLeon, and Lance Heverly and Lloyd Ulrich of the OPSO staff testified\nbefore the Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House Committee on Interstate and\nForeign Commerce. Testimony covered various matters about the construction of the oil pipeline\nbeing built in Alaska by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The areas of greatest concern to\nthe Subcommittee were those related to girth welds, weld inspection, recordkeeping of the\nwelding and weld inspection program, quality control and quality assurance programs of the\npipeline, and other matters related to assuring that the completed pipeline would meet the Federal\npipeline safety standards contained in 49 CFR Part 195.\nOn July 21, Deputy Secretary John W. Barnum and MTB Director James T. Curtis, Jr., appeared\nbefore the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee to testify concerning the construction of\nthe Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Specific topics covered in the testimony included the\nbackground of the Trans-Alaska construction developments, OPSO monitoring of construction\nactivities, relationship of DOT monitoring activities with those of other Federal agencies, studies\nof stress design levels on the Alyeska pipeline, welding and weld inspection matters, current\nwelding problems and DOT's actions toward solving them, radiography of the pipeline welds,\nadditional methods of verifying the quality of the welds which are now being considered, and the\ncurrent DOT monitoring activities onsite in Alaska.\nRelates to 49 CFR, §195.212 and Subpart D\nWAIVER ISSUED TO ALYESKA ON BENDING REQUIREMENTS; NOTICE OF\nANTICIPATED PETITION FOR WAIVERS ON ALYESKA ALSO PUBLISHED...On August\n3, 1976, the MTB issued a waiver to Alyeska Pipeline Service Company from compliance with\nthe requirement in Section 195.212 which provides that for each field bend of steel pipe\ncontaining a longitudinal welds, \"the longitudinal weld must be as near as practicable to the\nneutral axis of the bend.\" In consideration of all available information, MTB found that under\ndal\\192\\227\\76-08\n3\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\npresent pipeline technology, there is little, if any, risk of pipe damage from placing a longitudinal\nseam in a position other than near the neutral axis during bending. Accordingly, the waiver from\n49 CFR 195.212 was granted subject to the following conditions: (1) All bends must be made\nusing an internal bending mandrel, and (2) Alyeska shall report all unacceptable seam damage due\nto bending and bend failures during testing to MTB. Because of the significance of the findings,\nin the near future MTB will issue a notice of proposed rule making to modify the general\nrequirement in 49 CFR 195.212(b)(3) consistent therewith.\nOn August 12, 1976, the OPSO issued a notice (Docket No. 76-12W) concerning the Trans-\nAlaska pipeline--anticipated petition for waivers. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has advised\nthe DOT that it expects to petition the MTB for waivers to allow girth weld defects or arc burns\ngreater than allowed by 49 CFR Part 195, Subpart D, on the basis of a fracture mechanics\nconcept. The anticipated petition(s) and the proceedings thereon may raise issues that require\nanalysis of interrelated technical problems. The notice was published to bring the nature of those\nproblems to the attention of interested Federal and State agencies and other interested persons at\nthe earliest practicable time. In consideration of the nature and number of possible weld defects\nto be addressed, the notice also sets forth requirements covering preliminary determination of the\ninformation and data required for processing any request for a waiver.\nPersons planning to file comments on Docket No. 76-12W or on the anticipated petition(s) who\nwish to be served with copies of future notices issued by the OPSO in this matter, may file a\nrequest to be placed on the Notice Mailing List for that Docket with the Docket Clerk at the\nOffice of Pipeline Safety Operations, Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C. 20590.\nAll comments received will be considered and will be made available in the docket for public\ninspection along with the petition(s) and related analyses for public inspection upon receipt.\nReprints of the waiver, Docket No. Pet. 76-11W (41 Fed. Reg. 34103, August 12, 1976), and of\nthe Notice, Docket No. 76-12W (41 Fed. Reg. 34375, August 13, 1976), were sent to those\nparties on the Associations and Publications mailing lists.\nBAILEY NAMED NTSB MEMBER...Miss Kay Bailey, a former Texas legislator and one-time\naide to Anne Armstrong, the U.S. Ambassador to Britain, has been sworn in as a member of the\nNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Bailey, who is a lawyer and a former television\nnews correspondent, will serve as Vice Chairman of the Board for the first two years of her five-\nyear term.\nA Republican, Miss Bailey was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972. She was\nreelected in 1974, and was seeking a third term when President Ford nominated her to replace\nIsabel A. Burgess whose NTSB term expired December 31, 1974. Miss Bailey's legislative work\ncentered on transportation. She cosponsored a bill to reorganize the Texas Highway Department\nand to create a mass transit authority for Houston, Texas. She also was appointed to the\ndal\\192\\227\\76-08\n4\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nTransportation Task Force of the National Legislative Conference. The Conference studied\nproblems of railroads, highways, airports, and the trucking industry.\nMiss Bailey, 32, was born in Galveston, Texas. She attended the University of Texas and the\nUniversity of Texas School of Law, receiving an LL.B. in 1967. She was admitted to the Texas\nState Bar in 1967. From 1969 to 1971, Bailey was a political correspondent for television station\nKPRC, Houston, the first woman to hold the job. She also has been in the private practice of law\nwith the firm of Reynolds, White, Allen, and Cook.\nTWO-DAY GAS INDUSTRY SAFETY SEMINARS SCHEDULED...Ten additional 2-day\nseminars, \"Safety Requirements for Gas Pipeline Systems,\" have been scheduled for the remainder\nof the year:\nSeptember 8-9, 1976 Wisconsin\nSeptember 27-28, 1976 Louisiana\nSept. 30-Oct. 1, 1976 Louisiana\nOctober 18-19, 1976 Texas\nOctober 21-22, 1976 Texas\nOctober 27-28, 1976 Ohio\nNovember 29-30, 1976 Pennsylvania\nDecember 2-3, 1976 Pennsylvania\nDecember 15-16, 1976 North Carolina\nDecember 20-21, 1976 O P E N\nQuestions concerning the scheduling of future 2-day gas industry safety seminars should be\naddressed to the Chief, State Programs Division, OPSO. Persons interested in attending any of\nthe above scheduled seminars should contact their appropriate State agency for details. Seminars\nhave substantial emphasis on cathodic protection and gas failure investigation, particularly as they\nrelate to operators of smaller gas systems.\nSTATE PARTICIPATION IN OPSO GAS PIPELINE SAFETY PROGRAM REACHES 100\nPERCENT...For the first time since the OPSO gas pipeline safety program was established in the\nDOT in 1968, the program now includes all 50 States and the District of Columbia and Puerto\nRico. The most recent State to affiliate with the national gas pipeline safety program was New\nJersey. The Board of Public Utility Commissioners has signed a 5(b) agreement with OPSO and\nexpects to participate along with 45 other States in the Federal grant-in-aid program for 1977.\nPROCEDURAL GUIDE FOR GRANT-IN-AID PROGRAM... A new Procedural Guide has\nbeen developed by OPSO to assist State agencies in applying for and administering grant-in-aid\ndal\\192\\227\\76-08\n5\n\n<<<PAGE 6>>>\n\nfunds. This Guide, which is designed to simplify the pipeline safety grant program, will be\ndistributed with the grant application material this month.\nRelates to 49 CFR, §192.223, §192.227, and §192.229\nINTERPRETATION OF REGULATIONS\nQuestion: Must a welder who qualified under 49 CFR 192.227(a)(2) by making a 12-inch butt\nweld and 12-inch inverted tee test have a butt weld and a fillet weld cut out to verify his\nqualifications under Section 192.227(c)(2)(i)?\nOPSO Interpretation:...\"As provided by Section 192.223(b), each welder must perform a\nqualifying test for the welding procedure to be used. When a welder qualifies under Section\n192.227 (a)(2), to maintain the qualification, Section 192.229(c) requires that within the\npreceding six calendar months, the welder must have had at least one weld tested and found\nacceptable under either Section 3 or 6 of API Standard 1104. Section 192.227(c)(2)(i) requires\nthat a production weld be cut out, tested, and found acceptable in accordance with the qualifying\ntest only if a welder qualifies under Section 192.227(c).\n\"When a welder initially qualifies for more than one welding procedure, to maintain the\nqualification for a particular procedure, the welder must have a weld using that procedure\ntested, and found acceptable. A welder need not maintain the qualifications for all the procedures\nfor which the welder initially qualifies in order to weld under a single procedure.\"\n\\signed\\\nCesar DeLeon\nActing Director\nOffice of Pipeline\nSafety Operations\ndal\\192\\227\\76-08\n6\n\n<<<PAGE 7>>>\n\nThe Secretary of Transportation has determined that publication of this periodical is necessary in\nthe transaction of the public business required by law of this Department. Use of funds for\nprinting this periodical has been approved by the Director of the Office of Management and\nBudget through November 30, 1976.\ndal\\192\\227\\76-08\n7","truncated":false,"body_characters":15859}