The NPMS — A decision support tool
Samuel W. Hall U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Pipeline Safety 400 7 th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20590 Abstract The USDOT Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has partnered with other federal and state agencies and the pipeline industry to design and cost-effectively build a National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS). The NPMS has been established and consists of a single National Repository and presently twelve state repositories. The NPMS will depict the location of the natural gas transmission pipelines, hazardous liquid trunklines, and liquefied natural gas facilities operating in the United States. The system will be used by OPS as a decision support tool for emergency planning, focusing inspection resources, and determining where additional precautions are needed to protect people and the environment. The NPMS will also allow federal and state agencies and the pipeline industry to exchange pipeline locational data. The presentation will include an overview of the NPMS and focus on how operators can participate by providing their pipeline data to one of the participating NPMS repositories. Standards have been developed that describe the content and format requirements for the pipeline data and the submission procedures for the pipeline operators. Software templates have also been developed that guide the operator through the process of creating digital metadata and attribute files to include with their data submission. Introduction The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has been working with other federal and state agencies and the pipeline industry in the creation of the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS). The NPMS is a full-featured geographic information system (GIS) and is now operational. The NPMS is collecting the geospatial and attribute data and metadata of the natural gas transmission pipelines, hazardous liquid trunklines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities operating in the United States. The success of the initiative relies on the participation of the pipeline industry. OPS is working to reach out and educate the industry about the NPMS and how they can participate. The NPMS has and continues to be an inclusive process. From the beginnings of the NPMS, there has always been a collaborative effort involving state and federal government agencies and pipeline industry representatives. The need for teamwork in the operation of the NPMS continues. One of the goals of the NPMS is to minimize the level of redundancy in the collection of pipeline data. To this end, several state agencies already collecting pipeline data have been selected as state repositories for the NPMS. The ultimate goal is to better coordinate state and NPMS submission requirements to alleviate multiple submissions. OPS is collecting several other geographic data layers to be used in the NPMS. These layers include natural disaster probability areas, hydrography, and transportation networks. Large liquid operators can expect a final rulemaking in November of 2000. The rulemaking, entitled “Pipeline Integrity Management in High Consequence Areas [Operators with 500 or More Miles]” incorporates several geographic data layers. “High Consequence Areas”, or HCA’s, are defined as populated places, commercially navigable waterways, or Unusually sensitive areas. Populated places consist of layers derived from the Census Bureau’s Urban Areas and the Incorporated Places boundary files. Commercially navigable waterways are derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Navigable Waterways data set. Unusually sensitive areas are currently being created and represent environmentally sensitive areas based on endangered species habitat and public drinking water supplies. OPS and pipeline operators will use the NPMS as a decision support tool. OPS will use the system to depict pipelines in relation to the public and national resources, to coordinate information with other government agencies, to better prepare for a possible pipeline release, and to work with other government agencies and industry in the event of a release. Pipeline operators will have access to NPMS data and associated data sets through an Internet mapping application. Regulatory Requirement The Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act states that OPS must adopt rules requiring a pipeline operator to create and maintain accurate maps that identify the location of the operator’s natural gas transmission, significant distribution, and major hazardous liquid pipeline facilities in the state; a description of the characteristics of the operator’s pipelines in the state; a description of the products transported through the operator’s pipelines; and any other information that OPS considers useful to inform a state of the presence of pipeline facilities and operations in the state. In addition, this information is to be made available by the operators to OPS and appropriate state officials upon request. To meet the intent of the mandate, OPS is requesting that operators voluntarily submit reasonably accurate location data on natural gas transmission pipelines, hazardous liquid trunklines, and LNG facilities operating in the United States. It is requested that the data have a minimal positional accuracy of within 500 feet of its known geographic location. Research indicates that most operators can easily achieve 500-foot accuracy with current in-house data records. The success of this voluntary initiative is dependent upon operator participation. A Decision Support Tool Ensuring the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation’s pipeline transportation system is the mission of OPS. This mission can only be achieved if pipeline operators and regulators know where pipelines exist in relation to people and resources. The NPMS will assist OPS and pipeline operators in safely managing pipeline and LNG facilities. Having the ability to view pipelines in relation to high consequence areas (including populated areas, navigable waterways, and unusually sensitive areas), as well as environmental hazards to pipelines and other data layers, will assist OPS in effectively carrying out its mission. The NPMS will help OPS to provide a more comprehensive national picture of the nation’s pipelines and LNG facilities, focus inspection resources, plan for emergencies and natural disasters, decide if and where extra safety and environmental precautions are needed, and exchange geographic data among government agencies and pipeline operators in a common format. The NPMS brings the safe operation of pipelines into focus through the use of GIS and Internet-based mapping applications. OPS has developed an Intranet-based mapping application that allows headquarters and regional staff access to the NPMS data. Using the NPMS, inspectors and regulators are better able to understand how pipelines relate to the environments they traverse. In addition, OPS can better utilize resources in the inspection planning process by prioritizing inspections for at-risk pipelines or for pipelines which pose a greater risk to the community and the environment. The system can also be used to better respond to release situations and to better respond to inquiries pertaining to pipelines. Local officials will be able to use the NPMS to make better planning and emergency response decisions. Finally, OPS and pipeline operators can use the NPMS to communicate using common terminology. The NPMS Model The NPMS National Repository and nine state repositories were selected in the fall of 1998. Three more state repositories were selected in the summer of 1999. OPS has set up cooperative agreements with state repositories located in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In a third round of selecting state repositories, OPS published a Commerce Business Daily (CBD) announcement in February of 2000 requesting proposals from state agencies interested in representing the remaining states. Those proposals have been reviewed and contract staff should announce the selected state agencies in the fall of 2000. For those state agencies that were unable to submit a proposal this year, another CBD announcement will be published for state repositories in January of 2001. There are two NPMS standards documents: the Operator Standards describe how an operator can participate in the NPMS and the Repository Standards describe the operations of the NPMS state and National repositories. The National Repository has also developed metadata and attribute data software templates. These templates are downloadable at the NPMS Web page (http://www.npms.rspa.dot.gov). The state repositories are responsible for processing the pipeline and LNG facility data within their state boundaries. The National Repository is primarily responsible for processing the information for all other areas. The National Repository serves as the final processing and storage facility for all pipeline data. The National Repository also collects data from participating state repositories to create a seamless national pipeline and LNG database. National Repository Tasks The National Repository has developed an NPMS homepage. The URL for the page is http://www.npms.rspa.dot.gov. The page includes background information on the NPMS, repository and OPS contacts, downloadable attribute and metadata templates, updates to the standards for the NPMS, regularly updated submission statistics, and downloadable geospatial data used in the OPS GIS. Also included on the homepage is a list server that allows the user to register online. This will enable the registered users to be included in future e-mail update notifications and topical discussion from the National Repository. OPS has chosen U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Digital Raster Graphics (DRG) as the basemap for the NPMS. The DRG’s are scanned USGS topographic quadrangles at scales of 1:250,000, 1:100,000, and 1:24,000. The DRG’s were purchased from a third-party vendor and copyright restrictions limit the distribution of the data. The National Repository is also investigating various options in providing check plot data back to the operators. Currently, hardcopy check plots are produced (based on random sampling) and mailed for review by the operator. The National Repository is considering developing an Internet application, accessible only by pipeline operators, that gives the operators the opportunity to view their submitted data with accurate basemap data. Submission of Data Operators participating in the NPMS can submit their data to a state repository or the National Repository, or both. Interstate operators submitting digital geospatial data have two options. The first option is to send the entire digital data set to the National Repository for processing. The second option is to send the data that lie within states with repositories to those state repositories. Most interstate operators are choosing to send their entire digital submissions to the National Repository. Interstate operators that are submitting paper maps must send the data that lie within states with repositories to the state repositories. Intrastate operators submitting either paper maps or digital data must submit data within a state with a repository to that state’s repository. Any portion of either an intrastate or an interstate pipeline that is within a state with no repository must be sent to the National Repository. OPS has been working with the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) in contacting their members. When contacted, the operator is asked about their pipeline mileage, whether the pipeline data is in hardcopy or digital format, and their timeline for submitting pipeline data to the NPMS. The outreach has focused primarily on interstate operators, many of whom already have their data in a digital format. OPS held an NPMS workshop in June of 2000 at the American Gas Association headquarters in Washington, D.C. As the processing of the interstate operators’ data progresses, OPS will work with the state repositories, the American Gas Association, and the American Public Gas Association in contacting the intrastate operators. OPS will work with pipeline operators to complete this initiative in a manner that corresponds with the operator’s business needs. If an operator is planning to create digital data for some or all of its pipeline or LNG facilities by 2001, the operator should inform OPS and the operator should not submit paper data for the portion where digital data will soon be available. Availability of Data The pipeline layer of the NPMS will be made available to other government agencies, the pipeline industry, and the public to the extent that it is required under the Freedom of Information Act. Several data layers have been collected from other federal agencies and either are or will be available for download at the NPMS Web page. These layers include:
NPMS pipeline data and associated data layers will be made available to the public and the pipeline operators via an Internet-based mapping application. Pipeline operators will have the ability to view and query their pipelines in relation to the data layers listed above. The Internet application will also serve as a community education tool by providing pipeline locations and attributes and the proximity of pipelines to important resources. Local officials may also use the Internet application to make better planning and emergency response decisions. Timeline The Office of Pipeline Safety awarded contracts in September of 1998 for nine state repositories and the National Repository. The state repositories and National Repository met in Washington, D.C. in early 1999 to discuss the revised standards and to bring all participants up to speed on the NPMS. Three more state cooperative agreements were awarded in the fall of 1999. In February of 2000, a CBD announcement was published advertising for state agencies to represent states without a current state repository. On April 5, 2000, proposals were due from state agencies interested in serving as an NPMS state repository. An OPS team reviewed the proposals and made their recommendations to the contracting officer. After a period of negotiations and fine-tuning the contracts, OPS will award cooperative agreements with the state repositories in September of 2000. OPS is continuing to work with the trade associations and the operators in requesting pipeline data. Several operators have indicated that they will be ready to make their submissions by the end of 2000. In an attempt to avoid a deluge of submissions and to build the NPMS in a timely fashion, partial or piecemeal submissions are encouraged. The NPMS goal remains to collect 70% of the transmission pipeline and trunkline data by the end of the year 2000. | ||
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