On December 14, 1999, the DOT announced their adoption of a safety performance standard for the repair of corroded or damaged steel pipe in gas or hazardous liquid pipelines. Because present safety standards specify particular methods of repair, operators must get approval from government regulators to use innovative repair technologies. The performance standard is likely to encourage technological innovations and reduce repair costs without reducing safety. This final rule takes effect January 13, 2000. After that time, operators will have more flexibility to use alternative repair methods other than simply replacing the damaged sections of the pipeline. This could yield significant savings in repair costs, with much less pipeline downtime. The entire final rule can be accessed from our website at http://www.your-rcp.com/newsletters/12-14-99 alternative pipeline repair final rule1.