Compliance Review for Pipeline Transmission

PROJECT

LOCATION

Multiple Locations

Background

Pipeline transportation is one of the safest methods of delivering natural gas and hazardous liquids. Ensuring pipelines are operated and maintained in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations is critical to ensure the safety of pipeline operations and the surrounding public. ENTRUST Solutions Group provides comprehensive compliance review services to ensure conformance with applicable regulations including 49 CFR Parts 192 and 195.

Challenges

Following a restructuring of their infrastructure and integrity management responsibilities, a pipeline operator was struggling to confirm critical pipeline records, including integrity assessments. The records were not organized, nor were they available to all pipeline integrity stakeholders. Our client wished to establish traceable, verifiable, and complete records containing reliable information and to confirm the maximum operating pressure (MOP) for each pipeline. In addition, the client requested an information analysis to evaluate the integrity of each pipeline segment in compliance with 49 CFR 195.

Solutions

ENTRUST Solutions Group was retained to support the improvement of the client’s pipeline integrity management and confirm pipeline features with traceable, verifiable, and complete (TVC) records. This included creating a guidance document defining key components and assumptions, developing guidance to track pipeline characteristics, pressure test data, operating pressure, document quality, pipeline repair sleeves, casings and other related features; performing line “builds” to capture fittings and other important pipeline characteristic changes; conducting thorough quality control and quality assurance checks; validating the MOP based on verifiable information; identifying features requiring additional investigation to confirm properties and characteristics; updating the company database with TVC data; and performing an information analysis about the integrity of the entire pipeline and the consequences of a failure to determine if any changes to future integrity assessment plans may be needed.

ENTRUST successfully completed the project, providing the client updated TVC data in their database with linked pipeline records, as well as a detailed process for establishing records supporting MOP. In addition, the team confirmed MOP for each pipeline segment and completed an information analysis of each pipeline segment.

Project