The Minerals Management Service (MMS) in the Department of the Interior (DOI) is authorized to issue and enforce rules to promote safe operations, environmental protection, and resource conservation on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Under this authority, MMS regulates pipeline transportation of mineral production and rights-of-way for pipelines and associated facilities. MMS approves all OCS pipeline applications, regardless of whether a pipeline is built and operated under DOI or Department of Transportation (DOT) regulatory requirements. MMS also has sole authority to grant rights-of-way for OCS pipelines.
EDITORS NOTE to DOT Pipeline Operators in the Gulf of Mexico – this rule will apply to you!
The proposed rule pertains to any pipeline modification or repair that involves cutting into a pipeline or opening a pipeline at a flange. It requires that all lessees, lease operators, and pipeline right-of-way holders submit in writing the measures they plan to take and the procedures they plan to follow to ensure the safety of offshore workers and to prevent pollution before beginning any repair. For example:
Each lessee, lessee's operator, or pipeline right-of-way holder would be required, for any pipeline modification or repair that involves either cutting into a pipeline or opening a pipeline at a flange, to provide to the MMS Regional Supervisor a written work plan with their application to do the work that addresses the specific measures they plan to take and the procedures they plan to follow to ensure the safety of offshore personnel and to prevent pollution. The lessee, lease operator, or pipeline right-of-way holder-must submit and obtain the Regional Supervisor's approval for an application before they may conduct any of the following operations:
(1) Install a pipeline;
(2) Modify a pipeline;
(3) Cut into a pipeline or open a pipeline at a flange for purposes of modifying or repairing a
pipeline; or
(4) Decommission a pipeline.
If you submit an application for a pipeline modification or repair that involves cutting into a pipeline or opening a pipeline at a flange, you must include a written work plan with your application. Your written work plan must include a description of the specific measures you intend to take and the procedures you plan to follow to ensure the safety of offshore workers and to prevent pollution during the modification or repair. If you intend to repair a pipeline by installing a full encirclement mechanical clamp on the pipeline and do not intend to either cut into or open the pipeline at a flange, you do not have to submit a written work plan with your application. In writing a work plan, you must:
(1) Consider the operating history of the pipeline segment you plan to modify or repair, including past modifications or repairs and operating conditions peculiar to the pipeline segment;
(2) Develop all reasonable measures to ensure that pressure in the pipeline segment is equal to the external pressure (internally, there should be neither over-pressure nor negative pressure relative to external pressure);
(3) Develop all reasonable measures to ensure that you purge all combustibles and hydrogen sulfide (H²S) from the pipeline segment immediately before you conduct any work;
(4) Develop procedures to inform all facility workers (both company and contract) in advance concerning significant aspects of the modification or repair;
(5) Develop procedures to alert all facility workers immediately before you attempt to de-pressurize the pipeline and immediately before you cut into or open the pipeline to perform the modification or repair;
(6) Maintain onsite supervision during the entire modification or repair; and
(7) Develop procedures and safeguards to ensure that the pipeline segment remains isolated during the entire modification or repair so that facility workers (both company and contract) are not endangered by pressure differentials, H²S, or combustibles.
You must notify the Regional Supervisor within 24 hours after you decide that a pipeline repair is necessary, or immediately in cases of a pipeline failure. All such notifications must be made before you start the repair work. You must also submit a confirmation report of the repair of any pipeline or pipeline component to the Regional Supervisor within 30 days after you complete the work. Your confirmation report must include the following:
(1) Description of the repair;
(2) X-Y coordinates of the pipeline repair;
(3) Confirmation of the damage to or failure of the pipeline as originally reported;
(4) Confirmation that the repair was completed as approved by the Regional Supervisor; and
(5) Results of the hydrostatic pressure test.
MMS will consider all comments received by October 29, 2001. The complete proposed rule can be accessed on RCP's website HERE.