New PHMSA Leadership, how does your 194-OSRP fair in today’s regulatory space?

Has your 49 CFR 194 Oil Spill Response Plan (OSRP) under the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) had its 5-Year-Review? Or perhaps you’ve recently received a PHMSA Letter of Correction?  Either way, I’d like to offer a heads up. 

For better or for worse, David K. Lehman, Director of the Emergency Support and Security Division at the Office of Pipeline Safety, runs a much tighter ship these days.  Gone are the days of Facility Response Plan Review checklists, sometimes referred to as the Melanie Barber Checklist, that were used to gain approvals on OSRPs from PHMSA.  In today’s world, OSRPs are reviewed in their entirety against the actual CFRs.

At first glance, tougher reviews and standards may appear daunting, however, it also means consistency – that’s a good thing!  I’d rather know from the onslaught of a project I have to answer 50 questions, rather than think I have to answer 10 only to later have to spend weeks going back and forth on a document with agency reviewers to answer the “unknowns.”  More importantly though, plans are now required to be more user-friendly, and mindful of their true purpose as response plans.   

As we in industry begin our new journey with today’s leadership, many will initially be annoyed and frustrated, however, whether in CA or VA, eventually we’ll be speaking and reading the same language as the expectations are the same.   In case you’re still not convinced - this is a good thing! It makes complying easier, and transferable between companies. Let’s not forget that ultimately, these evolving requirements are meant to prevent or enable a better response to oil release incidents. Consistency builds industry “muscle memory”, providing for quicker, cheaper, and safer compliance, while also reducing the risk of “newsworthy” events.

So what’s new? Over the course of the past 18 months, the following “Needed Action” items have been very common on Letters of Correction we’ve seen from PHMSA:

• Maximum historic discharge omitted from plan; historically left off if not applicable.

• Calculation for pipeline worst case discharge cannot be verified with information in plan; no math shown, just volume.
• Deductions for breakout tanks not properly applied / Maximum breakout discharge omitted from plan; historically left off if not applicable.
• Contracted resources not-up-to-date, or are not properly qualified.
• Qualified individual information outdated, or missing required details.

Available resources such as compliance consultants and staff subject-matter experts can help with keeping ahead of these findings, however, PHMSA is often overlooked as a viable resource. Industry professionals can find release reporting forms, regulatory interpretations, response tools, and more on the PHMSA website.

Do you have questions or need assistance with your PHMSA programs? Witt O’Brien’s assists numerous pipeline operators annually, in addition to having former pipeline operators (actual industry practitioners) employed at our offices.  Email John Carroll (jcarroll@wittobriens.com), Vice President of Compliance Services at Witt O’Brien’s, OR reach him by phone at 281-320-9796.