Pipeline Accidents Now Reportable Online
DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration published a notice yesterday alerting operators of pipelines that carry gas and hazardous liquids to use the new online system for reporting incidents.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has alerted operators of pipelines that carry gas and hazardous liquids to use the new online system for reporting incidents and accidents. PHMSA, a DOT agency, changed the reporting forms as of Jan. 1, 2010, and told operators to continue filing hard-copy reports until the online system was launched.
The online system is available at http://pipelineonlinereporting.phmsa.dot.gov/ or through the old system at http://opsweb.phmsa.dot.gov by clicking on "Incidents on or after Jan 1, 2010." Operators may use their current operator IDs and PINs from the old system, which is still the system for filing annual reports and Gas Integrity Management Program reports, to access the new system.
For small releases of hazardous liquids (the areas shaded in gray on the hard-copy version of the hazardous liquid accident form), the new online system will accept reporting and does required logic checks for small releases (those under five barrels that don't involve a fatality, injury, or property damage of $50,000 or more, as described in 49 CFR 195.50). But because the new system does not exclude or hide questions that are not applicable to small releases, PHMSA recommends that operators who report such events follow the shaded sections on the hard-copy accident form and the guidance in the hard-copy instructions while entering those events with the new system until a system enhancement is completed.
For more information, contact Jamerson Pender, Information Resources manager, at 202-366-0218 or [email protected].