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U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater announced
on December 5, 2000 a notice of proposed rulemaking that will provide for
improved corrosion control for hazardous liquid and carbon dioxide
pipelines. The proposed rule adds a Subpart H to the DOT requirements pf
49 CFR Part 195 that borrow from the current corrosion control
requirements of that part and borrow from the corrosion control
requirements of 94 CFR Part 192 (dealing with gas pipelines). Here are
some of the highlights of the requirements:
- Applies only to steel pipelines and
breakout tanks.
- Includes performance measures for the
adequacy of cathodic protection - cathodic protection must comply with
the criteria and other considerations in section 6 of NACE Standard
RP0169-96.
- Supervisor Qualifications are included
such that each operator must require and verify that its supervisors
maintain a thorough knowledge of that portion of the corrosion control
procedures. . .for which they are responsible for insuring compliance.
- No component of a pipeline may be buried
or submerged unless that component has an external protective coating
that meets certain criteria.
- A cathodic protection system must be
installed for all buried or submerged facilities to mitigate corrosion
that might result in structural failure. A test procedure must be
developed to determine whether adequate cathodic protection has been
achieved.
- Each operator must, at intervals not
exceeding 15 months, but at least once each calendar year, conduct
tests on each buried, in contact with the ground, or submerged
pipeline facility in its pipeline system that is under cathodic
protection to determine whether the protection is adequate.
- Each operator must, at intervals not
exceeding 2 ½ months, but at least six times each calendar year,
inspect each of its cathodic protection rectifiers.
- Each operator must, at intervals not
exceeding 5 years, reevaluate its unprotected pipelines and
cathodically protect them in accordance with this subpart in areas in
which active corrosion is found. The operator must determine the areas
of active corrosion by electrical survey, or where an electrical
survey is impractical, by other means that include review and analysis
of leak repair and inspection records, corrosion monitoring records,
exposed pipe inspection records, and the pipeline environment.
A copy of the proposed rule is available on
AcuSafe.
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AcuTech Consulting,
©2002, All Rights Reserved
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