[Federal Register: June 5, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 108)]
[Notices]               
[Page 38698-38699]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05jn02-82]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

 
Pipeline Safety: Revised Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline 
Incident and Annual Report Forms

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; issuance of an advisory bulletin.

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SUMMARY: The Research and Special Programs Administration's (RSPA), 
Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), advises owners and operators of 
natural gas transmission pipeline operators of changes in the annual 
report and incident reporting forms.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roger Little, (202) 366-4569, or by e-
mail, roger.little@rspa.dot.gov. This document can be viewed at the OPS 
home page at http://ops.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In a Federal Register notice on August 2, 2000, (65 FR 47585) RSPA/
OPS proposed to revise the incident and annual reports for gas 
transmission and gathering systems. After considering public comments, 
RSPA/OPS published a Federal Register notice on May 8, 2001 (66 FR 
23316) to revise forms RSPA F 7100.2, Incident Report for Gas 
Transmission and Gathering Systems, and RSPA F 7100.2-1, Annual Report 
for Gas Transmission and Gathering Systems for use by operators in 
filing reports due on or after January 1, 2002.
    The Federal pipeline safety regulations require gas transmission 
pipeline operators to file incident reports as specified at 49 CFR 
191.15 and annual reports as specified at 49 CFR 191.17. The 
information collected on natural gas pipeline systems and incidents are 
an important source of data for identifying safety trends and for 
managing RSPA/OPS pipeline safety programs.
    The studies of natural gas transmission pipeline incident report 
information revealed deficiencies in the data collected on these forms. 
In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the 
General Accounting Office have urged RSPA/OPS to revise the information 
collected on the natural gas pipeline incident and annual report forms 
to improve its usefulness. NTSB Safety Recommendation P-96-1 suggests 
that RSPA/OPS:

* * * develop within 1 year and implement within 2 years a 
comprehensive plan for the

[[Page 38699]]

collection and use of gas and hazardous liquid pipeline accident 
data that details the type and extent of data to be collected, to 
provide [RSPA] with the capability to perform methodologically sound 
accident trend analyses and evaluations of pipeline operator 
performance using normalized accident data.

    Additional information is needed on natural gas transmission 
operator annual reports for normalizing the incident information and 
for adequately characterizing the nation's natural gas pipeline 
infrastructure. RSPA/OPS worked with representatives of the Interstate 
Natural Gas Association of America and the American Gas Association to 
review the natural gas transmission incident and annual report forms to 
make the information collected more useful to industry, government, and 
the public.
    RSPA/OPS has revised the incident and annual report forms to 
improve the usefulness of the reported data. The failure cause 
categories have been expanded from five to 25 on the incident report. 
The annual report form includes two new sections: (1) Mileage by decade 
of installation and (2) mileage by class location.

II. Advisory Bulletin (ADB-02-01)

    To: Owners and Operators of Natural Gas Transmission Systems.
    Subject: Revised Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline Incident and 
Annual Report Forms.
    Purpose: To inform gas transmission pipeline owners and operators 
that revised forms RSPA F 7100.2, Incident Report for Gas Transmission 
and Gathering Systems, and RSPA F 7100.2-1, Annual Report for Gas 
Transmission and Gathering Systems, are ready and available for use by 
natural gas transmission pipeline owners and operators, and accessible 
from the OPS website.
    Advisory: As of January 1, 2002, owners and operators of gas 
transmission pipeline systems should use only the revised forms RSPA F 
7100.2, Incident Report for Gas Transmission and Gathering Systems, and 
RSPA F 7100.2-1, Annual Report for Gas Transmission and Gathering 
Systems. As of January 1, 2002, all incidents meeting the reporting 
criteria in 49 CFR 191.15 are to be reported using the revised form 
RSPA F 7100.2. Beginning March 15, 2002, the annual reports required by 
49 CFR 191.17 are to be filed using the revised form RSPA F 7100.2-1.
    Forms and instructions are available upon request as described in 
49 CFR 191.19 or are downloadable from the OPS home page at http://
ops.dot.gov (in the ``FORMS'' section under ``ONLINE LIBRARY''). RSPA/
OPS is also implementing electronic reporting for natural gas 
transmission pipeline incidents by January 1, 2002, and for annual 
reports by January 15, 2002, for the annual report due March 15, 2002. 
Details are available on the OPS home page.
    RSPA/OPS has revised the incident report form to improve the 
usefulness of incident reporting by expanding the cause categories from 
five to 25. This will assist in trending and normalization of incident 
data. The natural gas transmission operator annual report form has also 
been revised to improve its usefulness. The annual report form includes 
two new sections: (1) Mileage by decade of installation and (2) mileage 
by class location.
    RSPA/OPS understands that operators may need some time to adjust 
information collection systems and research the new information 
requested for the annual report filing. If exact information is 
unavailable, requests for extensions of the filing date may be made to 
OPS' Information Resources Manager at (202) 366-4569. Pipeline owners 
and operators may estimate mileage by decade and mileage by class 
location.
    RSPA/OPS reminds owners and operators to file supplemental written 
reports (on RSPA Form F7100.2) if additional information on an incident 
later becomes available.
    Owners and operators are reminded that all relevant costs must be 
included in the estimated property damage total on the initial written 
incident or accident report as well as on supplemental reports. This 
includes (but is not limited to) costs of: Property damage to the 
operator's facilities and to property of others; commodity/product not 
recovered; facility repair and replacement; gas distribution service 
restoration and relighting; leak locating; right-of-way clean-up, and 
environmental clean-up and damage. Facility repair, replacement, or 
change that is not necessitated by the incident should not be included.

    Issued in Washington, DC on May 29, 2002.
Stacey L. Gerard,
Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.
[FR Doc. 02-14047 Filed 6-4-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P