Spill Response Plans

1
Spill Response Plans Why Are They Developed?

• Alan K. Mayberry
• Deputy Associate Administrator
• for Pipeline Safety

2
Plans required by PHMSA Regulations

• Operations, Maintenance and Emergency Manuals
• Natural Gas Regulations 49 CFR 192.605 192.615
• Hazardous Liquid Regulations 49 CFR 195.402
• Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities 49 CFR 193.2503
  193.2509
• Response Plans for Onshore Oil Pipelines
• 49 CFR 194.101

3
PHMSA Information Sharing Requirements

• Pipeline operators must provide information to
  the public
• Landowners and Rights of Way residents
• Public Awareness
• Indications of leaks
• Emergency reporting procedures
• Excavators
• Damage Prevention and One-Call Information

4
PHMSA Information Sharing Requirements

• Pipeline operators must provide information to
  the public
• Public assemblies, municipalities, school
  districts, businesses and residents of pipeline
  facility locations
• Emergency officials
• Emergency Plans, Briefings, and Continuing
  Liaison

5
PHMSA Information Sharing Requirements

• Certain procedures in Emergency manuals may be
  Business Confidential or Proprietary.
• Could disclose or illustrate sensitive business
  processes or practices the operator has developed
  as a competitive advantage
• Business Confidential ? Best Practice

6
Whats in Emergency Plans?

• Each operator shall establish and maintain
  liaison with appropriate fire, police, and other
  public officials to
• Learn the responsibility and resources of each
  governmental organization that may respond to a
  gas pipeline emergency
• Acquaint the officials with the operators
  ability in responding to a gas pipeline emergency

49CFR.192.615(c) (1),(2)
7
Whats in Emergency Plans?

• Each operator shall establish and maintain
  liaison with appropriate fire, police, and other
  public officials to
• Identify the types of gas pipeline emergencies of
  which the operator notifies the officials and
• Plan how the operator and officials can engage in
  mutual assistance to minimize hazards to life or
  property

49CFR.192.615(c) (3), (4)
8
PHMSA Enforces Plan Sharing

• In a 2008 case, PHMSA proposed a civil penalty,
  PHMSA fined a pipeline operator 310,000 for
  violation of 49 C.F.R. 195.402(c)(12).
• The operator failed to maintain liaison with
  fire, police, and other appropriate public
  officials to learn the responsibility and
  resources of each government organization that
  might respond to a hazardous liquid pipeline
  emergency and to acquaint local officials with
  the operators ability in responding to a
  hazardous liquid pipeline emergency and its means
  of communication.

9
PHMSA Enforces Plan Sharing

• Our final order states,
• Failure to maintain effective liaison can result
  in misunderstandings, erroneous expectations, and
  delayed communications and responses on the part
  of both the responding local officials and the
  pipeline operator.

10
PHMSA Advisory Bulletin

• Published Nov. 3, 2010
• PHMSA reminds operators of gas and hazardous
  liquid pipeline facilities that they must make
  their pipeline emergency response plans available
  to local emergency response officials.
• PHMSA recommends that operators provide their
  emergency response plans to officials through
  their required liaison and public awareness
  activities.
• PHMSA intends to evaluate the extent to which
  operators have provided their emergency plans to
  local emergency officials when PHMSA performs
  future inspections

11
Onshore Oil Pipeline Facility Response Plans
(FRPs)

• Required by the Clean Water Act, as amended by
  the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
• Need to address response organization and
  resources required to respond to a worst case
  discharge to the maximum extent practicable.
• Submitted to PHMSA for review and approval
• States may require submission of plans under
  their own regulations OPA did not preempt State
  oil spill laws
• State approval process is independent of PHMSA
  review

12
Facility Response Plans

• Used during spill incidents to guide response,
  recovery, and removal actions
• Can direct operator to share with Federal
  On-Scene Coordinators
• Almost all content is publicly available through
  Freedom of Information Act requests

13
Facility Response Plans

• FRP must include
• Corporate information and Qualified Individual
• Immediate notification procedures
• System description or diagrams
• Computed worst case discharge on pipeline or at
  tank facilities
• Spill response resources owned by operator or
  available through contract Oil Spill Response
  Organization (OSRO)

14
Facility Response Plans

• PHMSA reviews and approves FPRs for 5-year period
• Must be updated when significant changes occur
• Deepwater Horizon response caused PHMSA to
  publish an Advisory Bulletin in June 2010
• Most operators OSROs were not affected.

15
Comparison of PHMSA-Required Plans

• Emergency Plans

• Facility Response Plans

• Required for all pipeline operators
• PHMSA reviews at operator facility during
  inspections
• Not collected or maintained by PHMSA
• Operator must share with local emergency
  officials
• Not publicly available through FOIA

• Required for Onshore Oil Pipeline Operators
• Operators submit to PHMSA for review and approval
• Library of FRPs maintained by PHMSA
• Shared, when requested Federal On Scene
  Coordinators
• Publicly available through FOIA

Portions may be redacted
16
Facility Response Plans

• Certain FRP information could provide information
  to an adversary.
• Reveal system vulnerabilities and aid target
  selection
• Reveal choke points or non-redundant systems
• Maximize damage and interfere / interdict
  response activities
• Some content considered sensitive

17
Thank you

• Alan K. Mayberry
• alan.mayberry_at_dot.gov
• 202-366-5124