36030 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 126 /Wednesday, July 1, 1998 / Notices

The OPS Project Review Team carefully

reviewed Phillips’s proposed excavation risk

management activities and concluded that

superior protection would be provided for

the pipeline systems during the

demonstration project. The Phillips

Excavation Risk Assessment Process goes

beyond the existing regulations in providing

additional assurance of safety. OPS has

concluded that the enhanced risk control

activities will reduce the likelihood of

pipeline accidents and leaks, especially those

resulting from third party damage. Should a

leak or rupture occur, the enhanced

communication efforts should improve the

responsiveness of company and local

officials to an event, and diminish the

consequences of any such leak or rupture. In

summary, based on expected reductions in

both the likelihood and consequences of

leaks and ruptures, OPS has concluded that

the proposed risk control activities will

clearly reduce safety and environmental

risks.

F. Environmental Justice Considerations

In accordance with Executive Order 12898

(Federal Actions to Address Environmental

Justice in Minority and Low-Income

Populations), OPS has considered the effects

of the demonstration project on minority and

low-income populations. As explained

above, OPS believes this project will provide

superior safety and environmental protection

along the demonstration project lines. The

pipeline segments proposed for the project

are routed mostly through rural, sparsely

populated areas, but include about 15 miles

of pipeline which runs through industrial

and developing residential areas. A mixture

of income levels resides along the segments.

The risk control activities provide greater

protection than mere compliance with

existing regulations. Because the proposed

risk management activities will be applied

uniformly along the lines, residents and

communities near the lines will be afforded

greater protection, regardless of the residents’

income level or minority status. Therefore,

the proposed project does not have any

disproportionately high or adverse health or

environmental effects on any minority or

low-income populations along the

demonstration segments.

G. Information Made Available to States,

Local Governments, (and) Individuals

OPS has recently (in January and February

1998) made the following documents

publicly available, and incorporates them by

reference into this environmental assessment:

(1) ‘‘Demonstration Project Prospectus:

Phillips Pipe Line Company’’, June, 1998,

available by contacting Elizabeth M. Callsen

at 202–366–4572. Includes maps of the

demonstration segments. Purpose is to reach

the public, local officials, and other

stakeholders, and to solicit their input about

the proposed project. Mailed to over 500

individuals, including Local Emergency

Planning Committees (LEPC) and other local

safety officials, Regional Response Teams

(RRT) representing other federal agencies,

state pipeline safety officials, conference

attendees, and members of public interest

groups.

(2) ‘‘Phillips Pipe Line Company—

Application for DOT-OPS Risk Management

Demonstration Program’’, available in Docket

No. RSPA–98–3982 at the Dockets Facility,

U.S. Department of Transportation, Plaza

401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC

20590–0001, (202)366–5046.

(3) ‘‘OPS Project Review Team Evaluation

of Phillips Demonstration Project’’.

(4) Notice of Intent to approve project

(published concurrently with this

environmental assessment).

OPS has previously provided information

to the public about the Phillips project, and

has requested public comment, using many

different sources. OPS aired several

electronic broadcasts reporting on

demonstration project proposals, including

Phillips’s proposal. An earlier Federal

Register notice (62 FR 53052; October 10,

1997) informed the public that Phillips was

interested in participating in the

Demonstration Program, provided general

information about technical issues and risk

control alternatives to be explored, and

identified the geographic areas the

demonstration project would traverse.

Since August 1997, OPS has used an

Internet-accessible data system called the

Pipeline Risk Management Information

System (PRIMIS) at http://www.cycla.com/

opsdemo to collect, update, and exchange

information about all demonstration project

candidates, including Phillips.

At a November 19, 1997, public meeting

OPS hosted in Houston, TX, Phillips officials

presented a summary of the proposed

demonstration project and answered

questions from meeting attendees. (Portions

of this meeting were broadcast on December

4, 1997, and on March 26, 1998. This

broadcast is available on demand via the OPS

website at http://ops.dot.gov/tmvid.htm.) No

issues or concerns about Phillips’s proposal

have been raised.

H. Listing of the Agencies and Persons

Consulted, Including Any Consultants

Persons/Agencies Directly Involved in Project

Evaluation

Stacey Gerard, OPS/U.S. Department of

Transportation

James C. Thomas (retired), OPS/U.S.

Department of Transportation

Linda Daugherty, OPS/U.S. Department of

Transportation

Carl Griffis, OPS/U.S. Department of

Transportation

Anne Marie Joseph, OPS/U.S. Department of

Transportation

Rod Seeley, OPS/U.S. Department of

Transportation

Bruce Hansen, OPS/U.S. Department of

Transportation

Elizabeth Callsen, OPS/U.S. Department of

Transportation

Mary McDaniel, Gas Services Division,

Railroad Commission of Texas

Jim vonHerrmann, Cycla Corporation

(consultant)

Robert Brown, Cycla Corporation (consultant)

Herb Wilhite, Cycla Corporation (consultant)

Persons/Agencies Receiving Briefings/Project

Prospectus/Requests for Comment

Regional Response Team (RRT), Region 6,

representing the Environmental Protection

Agency; the Coast Guard; the U.S.

Departments of Interior, Commerce, Justice,

Transportation, Agriculture, Defense, State,

Energy, Labor; Health and Human Services;

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the

General Services Administration; and the

Federal Emergency Management Agency

(RRT Co-Chairs: Charles Gazda, EPA Region

6 and Cdr. Ed Stanton, Coast Guard 8th

District).

I. Conclusion

Based on the above-described analysis of

the proposed demonstration project, OPS has

determined that there are no significant

impacts associated with this action.

[FR Doc. 98–17493 Filed 6–30–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs

Administration

[Docket No. RSPA–97–2426; Notice 2]

Pipeline Safety: National Pipeline

Mapping System

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs

Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Public workshops.

SUMMARY: RSPA invites natural gas

transmission and hazardous liquid

pipeline operators, liquefied natural gas

facility operations managers, mapping

specialists, federal and state government

agencies, and the public, to attend one

of four public workshops on the

national pipeline mapping system

(NPMS). This digital mapping system,

when complete, will show the location

and selected attributes of the major

natural gas transmission and hazardous

liquid pipelines and liquefied natural

gas facilities in the United States. At

each of the workshops we will provide:

An overview of the NPMS; details on

the types of information OPS is

requesting for the NPMS; facts about

how we will use this information;

technical specifications for submitting

attribute data, geospatial data, and

metadata; information about the

national and state repository system;

and advice on how to convert paper

maps to digital data, should you want to

convert.

DATES AND LOCATIONS: Four workshops

will be held:

• July 14–15—Adam’s Mark Hotels

and Resorts, Houston, TX, 2900

Briarpark Drive at Westheimer,

(800) 436–2326;

• September 1–2—Hotel Arlington

Heights, Arlington Heights, IL, 75

W. Algonquin Road, (847) 364–

7600;
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 126 /Wednesday, July 1, 1998 / Notices 36031

1On June 4, 1998, BNSF filed a notice of

exemption under the Board’s class exemption

procedures at 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(7). The notice

covered the agreement by UP to grant temporary

overhead trackage rights to BNSF between Dallas,

TX, in the vicinity of UP’s milepost 214.6 (Dallas

Subdivision) and Tower 55, Fort Worth, TX, in the

vicinity of UP’s milepost 245.5 (Dallas

Subdivision), a distance of approximately 30.9

miles. See The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe

Railway Company—Trackage Rights Exemption—

Union Pacific Railroad Company, STB Finance

Docket No. 33612 (STB served June 22, 1998). The

trackage rights operations under the exemption

became effective on June 11, 1998, 7 days after the

verified notice was filed, and were scheduled to be

consummated on June 15, 1998.

2Trackage rights normally remain in effect unless

discontinuance authority or approval of a new

agreement is sought. See Milford-Bennington

Railroad Company, Inc.—Trackage Rights

Exemption—Boston and Maine Corporation and

Springfield Terminal Railway Company, Finance

Docket No. 32103 (ICC served Sept. 3, 1993).

• September 23–24—ANA Hotel, San

Francisco, CA, 50 Third Street,

(415) 974–6400;

• October 28–29—Washington Plaza

Hotel, Washington DC, 10 Thomas

Circle, (202) 842–1300.

All workshops will begin at 9:00 a.m.

and end at 4:00 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Specifics on registration and hotel

accommodation information are

available on the OPS Homepage—

http://ops.dot.gov or may be obtained by

calling Janice Morgan, (202) 366–2392.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department of Transportation’s Office of

Pipeline Safety (OPS) is working with

other federal and state agencies and the

pipeline industry to create a national

pipeline mapping system. The NPMS

will be a digital mapping data base. This

system, when complete, will show the

location and selected attributes of the

major natural gas transmission and

hazardous liquid pipelines, and

liquefied natural gas facilities in the

United States. This would include

information on interstate and intrastate

natural gas transmission pipelines and

hazardous liquid transmission lines.

This would not include information on

gas service lines, gas distribution lines,

gathering lines, flow lines, or spur lines.

OPS will add additional data layers to

the system, including layers to describe

population densities, areas unusually

sensitive to environmental damage,

natural disaster probability and highconsequence areas, hydrography, and

transportation networks. OPS will use

the system to depict pipelines in

relation to the public and the

environment, and to work with other

government agencies and industry

during an incident.

The NPMS will provide federal and

state governments and the pipeline

industry with information on pipeline

locations and their proximity to safety

sensitive areas. For example, these

include places where people live and

work, community drinking water

supplies, and national parks and

historical areas.

The NPMS will consist of multiple

state repositories and a single national

repository. The repositories will follow

one mapping data standard to digitize,

convert, and process the data.

DOT strongly urges all natural gas

transmission and hazardous liquid

pipeline and liquefied natural gas

facility operators to attend one of these

meetings and to voluntarily provide

mapping data for inclusion in the

national pipeline mapping system. OPS

will begin requesting pipeline operators

to submit digital data early in 1999. OPS

will accept paper data following

collection of mapping data that has

already been digitized.

Two Joint Government-Industry

Pipeline Mapping Quality Action Teams

(MQAT) have worked to create the

national pipeline mapping system

digital pipeline location and attribute

layer. The teams are sponsored by OPS,

the American Petroleum Institute, the

Interstate Natural Gas Association of

America, and the American Gas

Association. Represented on the teams

are OPS, the U.S. Geological Survey, the

Department of Energy, the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, the

Department of Transportation’s Bureau

of Transportation Statistics, the states of

Texas, Louisiana, California, New York,

and Minnesota, and the natural gas and

hazardous liquid pipeline industry.

The first team, MQAT I, analyzed

various mapping alternatives and

determined a cost-effective strategy for

creating a reasonably accurate depiction

(plus or minus 500 feet, for a corridor

width of 1,000 feet) of transmission

pipelines and liquefied natural gas

facilities in the U.S. The findings of

MQAT I are described in a report titled:

‘‘Strategies for Creating a National

Pipeline Mapping System’.

MQAT II implemented the strategies

outlined by the first team. MQAT II

developed the national pipeline

mapping data standards that will be

used to create the digital pipeline layer

in the national pipeline mapping

system. These include standards for

electronic data submissions, paper map

submissions, and metadata (data on the

data). The team has also developed

standards that will be used by the

pipeline mapping repository receiving

the pipeline information. Both

standards were pilot tested by state

agencies, industry, and others to test the

exchange of data that met the standards.

A copy of the standards can be viewed

and downloaded from the OPS Internet

web site. The Internet web site is http:/

/ops.dot.gov. The standards can also be

obtained by calling (202) 366-4561.

OPS has established a multi-phase

approach to create the NPMS. This

approach will allow industry and

government to efficiently upgrade

information in a manner that works

with other business needs.

OPS strongly urges all natural gas

transmission and hazardous liquid

pipeline operators and liquefied natural

gas facility operators to provide

mapping data. With federal and state

agencies and operators all contributing,

we can save time and money. To be

successful, we need your help. Please

attend one of four public workshops to

learn how you can participate.

Issued in Washington, DC on June 25,

1998.

Richard B. Felder,

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.

[FR Doc. 98–17477 Filed 6–30–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33612 (Sub-No.

1)]

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe

Railway Company—Trackage Rights

Exemption—Union Pacific Railroad

Company

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board,

DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Exemption.

SUMMARY: The Board, under 49 U.S.C.

10502, exempts the trackage rights

described in STB Finance Docket No.

33612 1 to permit the trackage rights to

expire on July 31, 1998, in accordance

with the agreement of the parties.2

DATES: This exemption is effective on

July 31, 1998. Petitions to reopen must

be filed by July 21, 1998.

ADDRESSES: An original and 10 copies of

all pleadings referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 33612 (Sub-No. 1) must be

filed with the Office of the Secretary,

Case Control Unit, Surface

Transportation Board, 1925 K Street,

NW, Washington, DC 20423–0001. In

addition, a copy of all pleadings must be

served on petitioners’ representatives (1)

Yolanda M. Grimes, Esq., The

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe

Railway Company, P. O. Box 961039,

Fort Worth, TX 76161–0039, and (2)

Joseph D. Anthofer, Esq., Union Pacific

Railroad Company, 1416 Dodge Street,

#830, Omaha, NE 68179.