Pipeline Safety: Standards for Direct Assessment of Gas and Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

Summary: This document proposes regulations that would require pipeline operators to meet certain standards if they use direct assessment to evaluate the threat of corrosion on regulated onshore gas, hazardous liquid, and carbon dioxide pipelines. The standards, which are already in effect for gas transmission lines in high-consequence areas, involve processes of data collection, indirect inspection, direct examination, and evaluation. Congress has directed DOT to prescribe standards for inspection of pipelines by direct assessment. The proposed regulations should advance the use of direct assessment as a method of managing the impact of corrosion on regulated pipelines.