Paper: Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations Their Development and Application

The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is assigned the responsibility for the Federal gas pipeline safety programs. These responsibilities involve a network of more than a million miles of gas transmission pipelines, distribution systems, and non-rural area gathering lines. Those systems under OPS jurisdiction are constructed, operated and maintained by more than 2990 separate operators who supply 40 percent of the nation's energy needs while serving 41 million customers. Age of the systems range from "brand new" to those which have been in the ground for over 150 years, so the duties of the OPS involve a variety of engineering and operating challenges. In addition to the gas pipeline safety programs of the OPS, the office also handles the technical details of liquid pipeline safety, the responsibility for which is assigned to the Federal Railroad Administrator. Provisions of those liquid pipeline safety programs affect some 130 interstate oil and products pipelines having 230,000 miles of system