American Gas - April 2014 - (Page 19)

n O r t h d a k O ta 50 Ways to Lay Your Pipeline New rules streamline siting in the Bakken region BiSMarCk, ND -North Dakota has nearly 50 new rules intended to increase transparency and efficiency in permitting and siting new oil and gas pipeline and related infrastructure. The rules were developed by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, part of the state's Department of Mineral Resources. Many of rules were driven by three new laws-House bills 1333, 1147, and 1348-designed to improve the speed and efficiency of infrastructure build-out, especially in the Bakken shale play. HB 1333 establishes standards and monitoring mechanisms for liquid-gathering pipelines. "That makes North Dakota one of the first states in the nation with a regulatory component for gathering systems," Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, told American Gas. The bill also provides for a comprehensive map of underground gathering pipelines. The map will allow landowners and regulators to visualize any infrastructure that underlies a property. In addition, HB 1333 expands the state's mediation service to help pipeline companies and landowners avoid litigation over easement disputes. It increases the state's Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Plugging and Site Reclamation Fund from $2 million to $75 million as well. The fund ensures that pipeline spills or leaks can be cleaned up even if the responsible entity no longer exists or lacks the funds to do so. HB 1147 streamlines pipeline permitting by allowing companies and landowners to agree on minor route variations within or slightly outside a pipeline's permitted corridor. "If a landowner wanted to alter the location of a pipeline, the pipeline company had to go back through a time-consuming permitting process, even if the new route was within the permitted corridor," Ness said. "The new law allows for a quick window of review that speeds the process of laying pipe." Finally, HB 1348 provides for new rules that allow landowners to request that holding tanks, safety flares, and other infrastructure be moved farther away from an occupied home if wells are located within 1,000 feet of the dwelling. "The new rules improve communication among pipeline companies, landowners, and regulators, and they get pipe in the ground with fewer problems," Ness said. "So they're good for all stakeholders." -E.S. OklahOMa Filling the Job Pipeline University program covers pipe integrity OkMUlGEE, Ok -A new program at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, or OSUIT, plans to help fill the high demand for pipeline integrity technicians. The idea for the program came from pipeline operators who asked OSUIT to help address an increasing shortage of technicians. With large numbers of retiring workers, "50 percent of the workforce is going to be over 50 years old by the year 2015, and [companies] are needing to replace that brain drain," Joe Bartlett, an engineering technologies instructor at OSUIT, told American Gas. In response, the university began its pipeline integrity program last fall. "There's heavy competition within the industry for personnel, and we're trying to meet that need," Bartlett says. The program was developed with the help of transmission pipeline companies, utilities, manufacturers, and service providers, and is designed to provide the broad base of skills needed in pipeline integrity management. "There's really not [another] program out there that focuses on pipeline integrity," said Bartlett. "There are programs that focus on corrosion technicians, but not on the all-around pipeline integrity person." The program, he said, "is teaching the skill sets that are used in day-to-day activities," and covers topics such as assessing pipeline damage and risk, corrosion control, regulations, safety, design, and integrity management. The curriculum includes classroom work, labs, and april 2014 AmericAn GAs 19

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American Gas - April 2014