Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Part XIII - Office of Conservation-Pipeline Safety › Subpart 3 - Transportation of Natural Gas or Other Gas by Pipeline: Minimum Safety Standards [49 CFR Part 192] › Chapter 33 - Gas Transmission Pipeline Integrity Management [49 CFR Part 192 Subpart O] › Section XIII-3337 - What Is a Continual Process of Evaluation and Assessment to Maintain a Pipeline's Integrity? [49 CFR 192.937]

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. General. After completing the baseline
				  integrity assessment of a covered segment, an operator must continue to assess
				  the line pipe of that segment at the intervals specified in
				  §3339 and
				  periodically evaluate the integrity of each covered pipeline segment as
				  provided in Subsection B of this Section. An operator must reassess a covered
				  segment on which a prior assessment is credited as a baseline under
				  §3321.
				  E by no later than December 17, 2009. An
				  operator must reassess a covered segment on which a baseline assessment is
				  conducted during the baseline period specified in
				  §3321.
				  D by no later than seven years after the
				  baseline assessment of that covered segment unless the evaluation under
				  Subsection B of this Section indicates earlier reassessment. [
				49
				  CFR 192.937(a)]
B. Evaluation. An operator must conduct a
				  periodic evaluation as frequently as needed to assure the integrity of each
				  covered segment. The periodic evaluation must be based on a data integration
				  and risk assessment of the entire pipeline as specified in
				  §3317 For
				  plastic transmission pipelines, the periodic evaluation is based on the threat
				  analysis specified in
				  §3317.
				  D For all other transmission pipelines, the
				  evaluation must consider the past and present integrity assessment results,
				  data integration and risk assessment information (§3317), and decisions
				  about remediation (§3333) and additional preventive and mitigative actions
				  (§3335). An operator must use the results from this evaluation to identify
				  the threats specific to each covered segment and the risk represented by these
				  threats [
				49
				  CFR 192.937(b)].
C. Assessment Methods. In conducting the
				  integrity reassessment, an operator must assess the integrity of the line pipe
				  in each covered segment by applying one or more of the following methods for
				  each threat to which the covered segment is susceptible. An operator must
				  select the method or methods best suited to address the threats identified on
				  the covered segment (see § 3317). [49
				  CFR 192.937(c)]:
1. internal inspection tools. When performing
				  an assessment using an in- line inspection tool, an operator must comply with
				  the following requirements: [49
				  CFR 192.937(c)(1)]
a. perform the in-line inspection in
				  accordance with §2145; [49
				  CFR
				  192.937(c)(1)(i)]
b. select a tool or combination of tools
				  capable of detecting the threats to which the pipeline segment is susceptible
				  such as corrosion, deformation and mechanical damage (e.g. dents, gouges and
				  grooves), material cracking and crack-like defects (e.g. stress corrosion
				  cracking, selective seam weld corrosion, environmentally assisted cracking, and
				  girth weld cracks), hard spots with cracking, and any other threats to which
				  the covered segment is susceptible; and [49
				  CFR
				  192.937(c)(1)(ii)]
c. analyze and account for uncertainties in
				  reported results (e.g., tool tolerance, detection threshold, probability of
				  detection, probability of identification, sizing accuracy, conservative anomaly
				  interaction criteria, location accuracy, anomaly findings, and unity chart
				  plots or equivalent for determining uncertainties and verifying actual tool
				  performance) in identifying and characterizing anomalies; [49
				  CFR
				  192.937(c)(1)(iii)]