Washington Administrative Code › Title 480 - Utilities and Transportation Commission › Chapter 480-93 - Gas companiesSafety › Section 480-93-110 - Corrosion control

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) Each gas
			 pipeline company must record and retain a record of each cathodic protection
			 test, survey, or inspection required by 49 C.F.R. Subpart I, and chapter 480-93
			 WAC. Each gas pipeline company must keep all records of each test, survey, or
			 inspection for a minimum of five years, except those records specified in 49
			 C.F.R. § 192.491(c) which the gas pipeline company must retain for the
			 life of the gas pipeline facility.
(2) Each gas pipeline company must complete
			 remedial action within ninety days to correct any cathodic protection
			 deficiencies known and indicated by any test, survey, or inspection. An
			 additional thirty days may be allowed for remedial action if due to
			 circumstances beyond the gas pipeline company's control the company cannot
			 complete remedial action within ninety days. Each gas pipeline company must be
			 able to provide documentation to the commission indicating that remedial action
			 was started in a timely manner and that all efforts were made to complete
			 remedial action within ninety days. (Examples of circumstances allowing each
			 gas pipeline company to exceed the ninety-day time frame include right of way
			 permitting issues, availability of repair materials, or unusually long
			 investigation or repair requirements.)
(3) Cathodic protection equipment and
			 instrumentation must be maintained, tested for accuracy, calibrated, and
			 operated in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. When there are
			 no manufacturer's recommendations, then instruments must be tested for accuracy
			 at an appropriate schedule determined by the gas pipeline company.
(4) Each gas pipeline company's procedures
			 manual must have written procedures explaining how cathodic protection related
			 surveys, reads, and tests will be conducted. Examples of such procedures
			 include, but are not limited to, how to determine IR drop (as defined in 49
			 C.F.R. § 192 Appendix D), how to conduct electrical surveys, how to test
			 casings for electrical isolation, how to test casings for shorted conditions,
			 and how to measure and interpret 49 C.F.R. § 192 Appendix D
			 criteria.
(5) Each gas pipeline
			 company must conduct inspections or tests for electrical isolation between
			 metallic pipeline casings and metallic pipelines at least once annually, but
			 not to exceed fifteen months between inspections or tests. The test or
			 inspection must also determine whether the pipeline has adequate levels of
			 cathodic protection at the casing to pipeline interface. These requirements do
			 not apply to unprotected copper inserted in ferrous pipe.
(a) For each casing installed prior to
			 September 5, 1992, that does not have test leads, the gas pipeline company must
			 be able to demonstrate that other test or inspection methods are acceptable and
			 that test lead wires are not necessary to monitor for electrical isolation and
			 adequate cathodic protection levels.
(b) Whenever electrical isolation tests or
			 inspections indicate that a possible shorted condition exists between a casing
			 and a pipeline, the gas pipeline company must conduct a follow-up test within
			 ninety days to determine whether an actual short exists. The gas pipeline
			 company's procedures manual must have a level or threshold that would indicate
			 a potential shorted condition and must also detail the method of determining
			 whether the casing is actually shorted to the pipeline.
(c) The gas pipeline company must clear the
			 shorted condition where practical.
(d) Whenever a short exists between a line
			 pipe and casing, the gas pipeline company must perform a leak survey within
			 ninety days of discovery and at least twice annually thereafter, but not to
			 exceed seven and one-half months between leak surveys until the shorted
			 condition is eliminated.