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Volpe Center Highlights - September/October 2002

Director's Notes

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility and Economic Growth
Human and Natural Environment | Organizational Excellence | Homeland Security
Awards | Papers and Presentations

Supporting the Office of Pipeline Safety

The mission of RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is to ensure the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation's pipeline transportation system. The importance of this mission was recently expressed by RSPA Administrator Ellen G. Engleman: "As overseers of the nation's 2.1 million miles of pipelines, we hold the people's trust to ensure that vital energy resources will be supplied safely." The Volpe Center supports OPS in several capacities.

Information technology has become critical to pipeline safety and security. Currently, a Volpe team is working on a knowledge-based, decision-support system that will allow OPS to leverage its resources to ensure safer pipeline distribution systems. The Center is also developing data analysis and information management strategies to enhance OPS's trend analysis and proactive information management. Advances in remote management, wireless computing, open systems, and Internet technology now make many key pipeline facilities, such as control centers, more vulnerable to cyber attack. Accordingly, the Center has identified near-term technology that can effectively enhance deterrence, detection, response, and recovery.

Other pipeline safety work has included analytical and technical support, including cost-benefit analyses related to regulatory changes and background studies on safety issues.

Certain geographic areas are more vulnerable to pipeline incidents; such areas may include highly populated areas, recently populated areas, commercially navigable waterways, and areas containing drinking water sources. Through its Integrity Management Program, OPS is developing rules to validate pipe integrity in high-consequence areas where a pipeline failure could seriously affect the public or the environment.

An important resource in the rulemaking process is the Technical Pipeline Safety Advisory Committee, which provides the DOT with peer reviews of proposed pipeline safety standards and serves as a sounding board for discussing pipeline safety policy issues as well as legislative initiatives. In July, at the request of OPS, Volpe staff participated in a Committee meeting regarding the gas pipeline integrity rulemaking. (See the Safety section of this issue of Highlights.)

The Center will continue to support RSPA as needed to help ensure the safety and security of our nation's vital energy resources.

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