Joint Agency Coordination to Ensure Safety and Protection of the Environment through Pipeline InspectionThe Pacific Region; U. S. Department of Transportation, Office of Pipeline Safety; California State Lands Commission; California State Fire Marshall; and California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on January 21,1999, to employ coordination and consensus to resolve issues of mutual concern with respect to offshore oil and natural gas pipelines. The MOA commits the signatories to implementing the Offshore California Pipeline Inspection Survey Plan process and procedures which provide a coordinated analytical framework for assessing the present condition and inspection needs of offshore pipelines. Background The Pacific OCS Region, in reviewing offshore pipeline inspection surveys, recognized the need for refinements that would benefit both industry and government while ensuring safety and protection of the environment. Realizing that other Federal, State, and local agencies have different inspection requirements on the same pipelines, the Bureau invited interested agencies to participate in a technical workgroup to review existing Federal and State agency requirements for inspections of pipelines on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf. The Pipeline Inspection Quality Improvement Team convened in Spring of 1994. The Pipeline Inspection Quality Improvement Team was composed of representatives from the Bureau, California State Lands Commission, California State Fire Marshal (CSFM), and California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. The CSFM acted as the representative for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). After extensive evaluation of existing inspection requirements, the Team concluded that the best approach to inspecting offshore pipelines is to critically examine each line individually and develop a performance-based inspection schedule for each based on the present condition of the line. The Offshore California Pipeline Inspection Survey (OCPIS) Plan was developed by the Team to provide guidelines to improve the quality of pipeline inspection surveys. |
