{"operation":"document","citation":"PI-91-020","title":"Annandale District Council — Pipeline Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"1991-06-26","effective_on":null,"summary":"PI-91-020 response to Annandale District Council concerning 195.412.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-91-020.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-91-020.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-pi-91-020","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/Pipeline/1991/PI91020.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nMr. John Fee\nChairman, Annandale District Council\nC/O Supervisor's Office\n4414 Holborn Avenue\nAnnandale, VA 22003\nDear Mr. Fee:\nThis responds to your petition P-45 dated January 26, 1991,\nrequesting the revision of 49 CFR 195.412(a) to prohibit aerial\ninspections of pipeline rights-of-way in areas with population\ndensities greater than 1000 people per square mile. You feel that\nlow altitude flights at the required inspection frequency in such\npopulated areas are ineffectual and present noise and other dangers\nof their own to public safety.\nSection 195.412(a) of the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety\nRegulations states: \"Each operator shall, at intervals not\nexceeding 3 weeks, but at least 26 times each calendar year,\ninspect the surface conditions on or adjacent to each right-of-\nway.\" This standard permits the pipeline operator to select an\nappropriate method of implementation.\nThe use of airplanes and helicopters to perform these inspections\ncomplies with the regulation. Aerial inspections are an\nestablished industry practice and we consider such inspections to\nbe an effectual way to disclose excavation activities on either\nside of the right-of-way that occasionally extend to the pipelines\nwithin the right-of-way. Checking for excavation activities is an\nimportant part of the inspection, because excavation activities, or\n\"dig-ins,\" are the leading cause of damage to underground\npipelines.\nWe have no reports of accidents associated with aerial inspections\nof pipelines to indicate that aerial inspections have endangered\npublic safety.\nFor these reasons, we do not have a basis for revising 49 CFR\n195.412(a).\nSincerely,\nCesar De Leon\nDB\nC:\\WP51\\INTERPRT\\195\\412\\91-06-26\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nDirector of Pipeline Safety\nRegulatory Programs\nDB\nC:\\WP51\\INTERPRT\\195\\412\\91-06-26\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":1812}