La Department of Natural Resources, Office of Pipeline Safety

Mr. Joel E. Kohler began with the Department of Natural Resources in 1983 and was employed for 6 ½ years as the Sole Engineer with the State Mineral Board staff. He later worked for 3 years as Chief of Pipeline Operations with the Office of Conservation. He held the position of Chief of Pipeline Safety from March of 1993 to October 1997 at which time he was promoted to Assistant Director of the Pipeline Division.

Mr. Kohler is a native of St. Landry Parish. He attended LSU in Baton Rouge where he received a Bachelors of Science in Petroleum Engineering in 1982. He is licensed as a Professional Engineer in both Petroleum Engineering and Environmental Engineering.

He represents Louisiana on the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) where he is presently the National NAPSR Vice-Chairperson and is slotted for the position of National NAPSR Chairperson in year 2000. He also participates in numerous National committees and performance review teams.

He is an avid supporter of and participates in various charity drives and functions, in addition to assisting in his children's school functions and sporting events. If he has any spare time he likes to do a little fishing and hunting.

Is your oil or gas pipeline system due for a DOT inspection? RCP, Inc. can provide confidential internal auditing to help ensure that your facility is up to the agency's latest standards.

In the November 30, 1999 Federal Register Vol. 64, No. 229 p.66788, RSPA announced that the minimum random drug testing rate for the pipeline industry will be maintained at 25 percent of the covered employees for the period of January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2000. Remember that your MIS reports are due to the Office of Pipeline Safety, Research and Special Programs Administration, DPS-23, Room 7128, 400 7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20590, not later than March 15 each calendar year.

Once again this month, we will evaluate a task with the 4-part test as required by the Operator Qualification Rule. As we discussed last month, it is not always an easy decision when deciding whether or not a task is covered.

Is repairing a pipeline leak a covered task?

What do you think about these questions? Please email your comments on this or other tasks that you would like to have included in future newsletters to tdhollowell@your-rcp.com.

Too many big fat plans hogging all your shelf space? Too much information, but too hard to find what you need? Ask RCP about putting all the information you need on a CD-ROM. Thousands of pages of information – all in a simple point-and-click format. Everything can be searched for specific words in a moment. And think of the trees you will save!

Pipeline Safety: Enhanced Safety and Environmental Protection for Gas Transmission and Hazardous Liquid Pipelines in High Consequence Areas

Don't forget that written comments considering the need for additional safety and environmental regulations for gas transmission lines and hazardous liquid pipelines in high-density population areas, waters where a substantial likelihood of commercial navigation exists, and areas unusually sensitive to environmental damage must be submitted to the Dockets Facility by December 20, 1999.

Need to permit a new facility? RCP's expert staff can handle the entire permitting process. We have decades of experience with all types of permitting and authorizations, and have professional engineering registrations throughout the Gulf Coast.

Ken Vanover with Mobil responded to our questions in last month's newsletter concerning flyover inspections and the Operator Qualification rule, stating that an operator should consider the spirit of the rule when making an interpretation. The routine flyover inspections are very valuable in assisting the operator with identification of pipeline problems, and should be considered within the scope of the operator qualification rule.

RCP is currently working to develop more precise methods to estimate the worst case discharge (WCD) for long oil pipelines. The default method is to assume the entire volume of oil in the pipeline between block valves is lost during a worst case discharge spill. However, numerous factors can have a significant impact on the volume of oil that could actually leak from a damaged pipeline – including pipeline diameter, pipe elevation profile, oil compressibility, and pipeline wall thickness versus operating pressure. If you would like to participate in development of this WCD calculation methodology, please contact Bill Byrd at wrbyrd@your-rcp.com.

The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has completed an initial screening of three candidate companies for the System Integrity Inspection (SII) Pilot Program – Conoco Pipe Line Company, El Paso Natural Gas Company, and Portland Pipe Line Corporation. The System Integrity Inspection (SII) Pilot Program is designed to test whether a more broad-based examination of an operator's safety and pipeline integrity programs, including many areas not currently considered during a typical inspection, will improve performance. Although OPS will continue to require an operator's compliance with the pipeline safety regulations, under the SII approach, an SII Team (composed of OPS and interstate agency personnel) will work cooperatively with the operator to address pipeline system integrity issues, including areas that the regulations may not address. Before making its final selection of SII Pilot Program participants, OPS invites public comment on any aspect of a candidate company's participation in the SII Pilot Program. Each company's Application Letter is available via an internet-accessible information system that can be reached through the OPS web site at http://ops.dot.gov. This web site contains descriptive information about the SII Pilot Program, frequently asked questions and answers, and access to program-related documents. OPS will announce its selections of SII Pilot Program participants through the web site. After selection, information on a company's performance will be available through this site. The SII web site also supports OPS's on-going communication and outreach efforts by providing an opportunity for the public to communicate directly to OPS using the "Feedback" feature on the web site. OPS welcomes comments and input throughout the SII Pilot Program. The full Federal Register notice concerning this program is available on RCP's website at

http://www.your-rcp.com/PipelineIntegrityProgram.htm

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