# Memo: Internal — Pipeline Safety Interpretation

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** PI-84-007
- **title:** Memo: Internal — Pipeline Safety Interpretation
- **source type:** guidance
- **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- **status:** guidance
- **official:** true
- **published on:** 1984-11-19
- **effective on:** Not available
- **summary:** PI-84-007 response to Memo: Internal concerning 192.245.
- **machine formats:** - **json:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-84-007.json
- **markdown:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-84-007.md
- **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-84-007
- **source url:** https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/Pipeline/1984/PI84007.pdf
**body:**

<<<PAGE 1>>>

MEMORANDUM
DATE: November 9, 1984
SUBJ: INFORMATION: Interpretation Request - Repair of girth welds using
split sleeves
FROM: Richard L. Beam
Associate Director for Pipeline Safety Regulation, DMT- 30
TO: Edward Ondak, Chief, Central Region, OOE, DMT-14
Thru: Robert L. Paullin Associate Director for Operations
& Enforcement, DMT-10
Responding to your request of October 23, 1984, the following clarification of the
regulations is more appropriate than an interpretation, which we do not believe the
conditions warrant.
Your first two paragraphs generally paraphrase the intent and meaning of
§§192.245(c) and 192.715(c) to the extent you state them, except that
§192.715(c) requires the repair of a defective weld with a sleeve rather than
"allows" it if it "cannot be repaired in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b).
The problem you present arises because of inappropriate application of §192.715
which is for the permanent field repair of welds in the maintenance of an existing
line. It is not a "construction" requirement. When the operator repairs the Dresser
coupled pipeline by "removing a section of pipe and welding in a new section" all
applicable sections of Subpart E must be complied with in "replacement" of that
section by welding, including §192.245. Repair of the "crack in one of the tie-in
welds" must be in accordance with §192.245, and it would not be permissible to
install "a full encirclement welded split sleeve" for such a repair. After the
operator elected to repair the pipe by replacement of a welded tie-in section, the
fact that the original pipeline was Dresser coupled is irrelevant.
The repair method you hypothesized is not appropriate for a replacement section in
a "welded line" for the same reasons that it was not for the Dresser coupled one.
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<<<PAGE 2>>>

Requirements of §192.715(a) and (b) appear to be clear and specific, and if they
cannot be met in the permanent field repair of welds in the maintenance of an
existing pipeline, then paragraph (c) "must be" met. Circumstances in which
paragraph (c) would apply would include those where it is not feasible to take the
transmission line out of service and the conditions of paragraph (b) cannot be met
(e.g., defective weld is leaking).
When the operator decides to repair the pipeline by "replacement" of a section, it
does not enjoy the prerogative of being "not interested in establishing and
qualifying procedures for repair of cracks" in the tie-in welds it must perform.
#
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<<<PAGE 3>>>

MEMORANDUM
DATE:October 25, 1984
SUBJ: INTERPRETATION REQUEST: using split sleeves
Repair of girth welds
FROM: Chief, Central Region, DMT-14
Thru: Associate Director, OOE, DMT-10
TO: Associate Director, OPSR, DMT-30
192.245(c) requires that repair of a girth weld containing a crack be made in accordance
with qualified written weld repair procedures.
192.715(c) allows for the repair of a defective weld by installing a full encirclement
welded split sleeve of appropriate design if the weld cannot be repaired in accordance with
192.715(a) or (b).
If an operator, in repairing a dresser coupled pipeline made that repair by removing a
section of pipe and welding in a new section of pipe, determined that there was a crack in
one of the tie-in welds, could he satisfy the requirements of the regulations by installing a
full encirclement welded split sleeve? Keep in mind that this is a dresser coupled pipeline,
or contains dresser couplings, and the joints could have been made by using dresser
couplings in the first place.
Could this same type of repair be made if the pipeline were a welded line?
What circumstances could warrant the weld "not repairable" by the criteria of 192.715(a)
or (b)?
For the above situations, assume the operator is not interested in establishing and
qualifying procedures for repair of cracks and repair of previously repaired areas.
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