|
On June 30, PHMSA is co-sponsoring a one-day public awareness workshop with the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) at the Hotel Intercontinental in Houston, Texas from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (CT). The workshop will be an opportunity, following the initial four-year implementation cycle, to review the implementation process, identify what implementation strategies have worked well, discuss challenges faced by the pipeline industry, discuss Federal and state regulatory oversight, learn about public interest and need for information about pipelines in their communities, and identify critical elements of a successful operator public awareness program. Pipeline trade associations, the Pipeline Safety Trust, the National Transportation Safety Board, and pipeline operators will share lessons learned from implementing their public awareness programs based on Federal regulations. PHMSA and state partners will discuss the scope of and timeline for conducting effectiveness evaluations. PHMSA and our state partners will use the results from this event, in addition to existing inspection activities, to further develop our programs for evaluating pipeline operator public awareness programs. In addition, the workshop will be webcast. John Erickson has been invited to speak on behalf of public gas systems. He will emphasize the results of the APGA GOAL program that nearly 200 systems are using to measure the effectiveness of their gas safety education to customers and non-customers living near distribution lines. This is timely since utilities must complete their first effectiveness assessment no later than June 20.
APGA is conducting an on-line survey of members to learn more about how members are complying with the public awareness regulation. Please take a few minutes to take a short survey on public awareness at www.surveymonkey.com. The Operations and Safety Committee also invites all APGA members to participate in a roundtable discussion on public awareness at 2 pm Eastern Tuesday, June 22. Several APGA members will describe how they approach public awareness and then the call will be opened for general discussion. Information gleaned from the roundtable and survey will provide good preparation for APGA to participate in PHMSA’s workshop. For more information please contact John Erickson, APGA Vice President, Operations 202-464-2742, ext 1002 or jerickson@apga.org.
Return to Archives
|
