Underground Construction - July 2018 - 20

Eben M. Wyman | DCA Government Liaison

DCA/AGA Conduct 5th Annual Workshop
Panels Highlight Wide Range of Topics

The Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) and
the American Gas Association
(AGA) recently hosted the 5th
Annual DCA/CGA Workshop
in Chicago. This two-day event
is aimed at increasing communication and cooperation
between natural gas utilities
and the contractors who build
the pipeline infrastructure for
them. The workshop reflects
the strong and still-growing
relationship between the DCA
and AGA, and addressed a wide
range of industry issues and efforts- some ongoing and others
relatively new to both associations.
The first day was kicked off
by staff members from the
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) describing its vision
and main end-goal as being "the
most innovative transportation safety organization in the
world." While that may sound
ambitious, PHMSA has a long
and successful track record of
working with industry to provide an effective, risk-based
approach to regulating some
2.7 million miles of pipeline.
Recognizing that more than 2.2
million miles, or 80 percent, of
that is distribution, it's little
wonder that PHMSA is a regular at these workshops.
PHMSA explained the principles behind a risk-based regulatory approach: the administration establishes minimum
safety standards and enforces
them with a focus on safety
performance. Pipeline operators hold the responsibility
of understanding and managing risks associated with their
unique systems, and dedicat-

JULY 2018 | UConOnline.com

A large group of gas distribution utilities and contractors gather for the annual workshop.

ing resources to address those
risks. When industry and
government work in good faith
with these concepts in mind,
pipeline safety and program
effectiveness can be achieved at
the highest levels
After describing pending rules that impact the gas
distribution sector, PHMSA
addressed the administration's
take on pipeline Safety Management Systems (SMS). These
systems include a "Plan-DoCheck-Act" cycle of determining the steps that need to be
taken, implementing those
steps, periodically reviewing
them and making changes or
improvements, if necessary.
It allows the pipeline industry
to progress from a reactive to
proactive, and even predictive,
approach to safety.
PHMSA's Voluntary Information Sharing Working Group
is developing a secure system
that encourages collection and
analysis of pipeline integrity
and risk assessment information to improve pipeline safety
in all sectors, including distribution. According to PHMSA, this
effort aligns well with pipeline
SMS by sharing best practices

and lessons learned, engaging
all stakeholders, and striving
for continuous improvement.

AGA celebrates
100-year anniversary

An AGA representative provided the lay of the land at AGA,
which has served the gas distribution industry for a century.
The organization continues to
invest significant resources to
increase safety and efficiency
in the distribution sector. AGA
has widened its messages well
beyond encouraging reasonable and risk-based regulations
and is making a point to describe the many benefits that
come with natural gas, such
as its abundance and affordability, and declining trends of
natural gas leaks and methane
emissions.
AGA maintains a strong role
in the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD), of
which DCA is now a member.
Efforts to recruit and retain
workers have expanded to
engaging women and veterans,
and providing scholarships.
As the industry continues
to replace antiquated cast iron
and bare steel lines, 41 states

have implemented cost-recovery mechanisms to facilitate
the process, which remains a
focal point of the Distribution
Integrity Management Program
overseen by PHMSA. AGA is
also pilot testing pipeline SMS
and will be releasing its own
SMS guidance document while
the association continues to
host SMS workshops.

Panels address
wide-ranging topics

As always, the "meat and
potatoes" of the DCA/AGA
Workshop included several
panel discussions that gave
attendees a better awareness of
some of the leading issues being
tackled by industry associations
and corporations.
PHMSA's presentation made
it clear that pipeline SMS is currently a hot topic in all sectors
of the pipeline industry. DCA,
AGA and several other national associations representing
different facets of the pipeline
industry plan to collaborate in
an effort to promote pipeline
SMS. The panel, moderated by a
representative of the American Petroleum Institute (API)
overseeing API Recommended

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Underground Construction - July 2018

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