On June 30, APGA’s John Erickson spoke on behalf of public gas systems at a workshop sponsored by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in Houston, TX on the fourth anniversary of the new public awareness regulations. PHMSA asked APGA, other trade associations, the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) and public representatives to offer their opinions on how the new requirements have affected pipeline safety. The Pipeline Safety Act of 2002 required that PHMSA revise its public awareness requirements and rather than wait for PHMSA staff to write regulations the industry trade associations collaborated to create API Recommended Practice 1162 which outlines a structure for effective public awareness programs by pipeline operators.

John noted that while APGA and AGA participated in the development of RP 1162, the document was clearly aimed at long-line, interstate pipelines rather than local distribution systems. The public awareness challenges of the two type of pipelines are significantly different because 1) the public is generally aware that buried gas distribution lines and other underground utilities exist in urban areas, whereas the public would generally not expect to find buried gasoline, crude oil or other transmission-type pipelines in their neighborhood, and 2) people encounter natural gas in homes, restaurants and businesses, so many learn that gas is flammable and has a distinctive smell even without being told so by the gas utility. He was optimistic that the revision to RP 1162 now nearing completion will resolve some of the confusion that distribution systems experienced trying to implement a document mainly aimed at transmission pipelines.

He also presented statistics from the APGA GOAL program that measures the level of gas safety knowledge in gas customers and the general public. Surveys done in 2007 before the new requirements were fully implemented indicated that residents in areas served by public gas systems had a high level of knowledge about how to recognize and respond to a gas odor and the importance of calling the local one-call system prior to excavating. Over 97 percent felt the gas industry did a good job educating the public about natural gas safety. Public gas systems have the advantage of being located in the cities they serve which enhances their ability to reach out to the local residents.

A speaker from National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) described efforts to develop inspection forms to be used by state regulators to audit compliance with the public awareness rules. One problem APGA members have noted is there has been inconsistency state to state in how public awareness is being enforced, and the lack of federal enforcement guidelines may explain that fact. APGA urged that the enforcement guidelines to focus on the effectiveness of a utility’s public awareness program rather than on “whether all the i’s have been dotted and t’s crossed.” APGA offered assistance in developing and testing these inspection guidelines.

For more information contact please John Erickson, APGA Vice President, Operations 202-464-2742, ext 1002 or jerickson@apga.org.

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