Pipeline Safety News and Resources
This is to announce the launch of the CAL FIRE – Office of the State Fire Marshal’s (OSFM) 2024 Annual Pipeline Operator Report (APOR) on Monday May 1, 2024. Upon launch, pipeline operators will be able to access their APOR hereExternal Link. To review the 2024 APOR Instructions Manual, please click here.
Each year, every operator of a pipeline, as defined in Government Code §51010.5, shall certify to the OSFM the total miles of pipelines owned, operated or leased by the operator within California for which the pipeline operator is responsible. The OSFM Form PSD-101 is required per Government Code §51015.1(a) and Title 19, California Code of Regulations, Chapter 14, Article 2. California intrastate pipeline operators must verify their required information with the secure APOR web portal no later than July 1, 2024.
Pipeline operators will be invited to attend two APOR webinars hosted by OSFM, where staff will demonstrate the platform, review updates, answer questions, and troubleshoot. Here are the tentative webinar dates:
Tentative Webinar Dates:
- Thursday, May 2, 2024
- Tuesday, June 4, 2024
If an extension for APOR is required, an email request and justification for the extension must be submitted to PipelineNotification@fire.ca.gov by June 1, 2024.
CAL FIRE-Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) invites you to the 2024 Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Seminar, June 6, 2024, at the Hilton Long Beach Hotel.
During this one-day seminar, CAL FIRE – Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), Pipeline Safety Division staff and industry experts will cover Pipeline Vulnerabilities, Fire Technologies, Statute & Regulation updates, State waiver process, Pipeline Emergency Responders Initiative (PERI), and Hydrostatic testing. There will also be time to network with industry experts and exhibitors.
For more information about the seminar, the agenda, to register as an attendee, please click here.
The Pipeline Safety Division has sole authority for the inspection and enforcement of federal and state regulations for intrastate pipelines within the state of California. Federal authority is granted through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The following sections of state and federal law define the Pipeline Safety Division’s authority:
The Elder Pipeline Safety Act of 1981 (California Government Code §51010-51019.1)External Link
California Code of Regulations, Title 19 §2000-2075External Link
The CALFIRE - Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) maintains a mapping system as authorized by AB 592. The OSFM Pipeline Mapping System is intended to map all OSFM jurisdictional pipelines to aid in enforcement, inspection, and emergency response.
The State Pipeline Mapping System (SPMS) contains the location and selected attributes of hazardous liquid pipelines and breakout tanks. Operators must use the attached GIS standards to submit their data in a uniform manner to be used in the State Pipeline Mapping System. For each operator submission, the operator will submit one File Geodatabase containing all the required feature classes and associated tables as described in the SPMS Standards Document.
PHMSA Signed Interpretation Letters: Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulations in 49 CFR Part 199
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a signed interpretation letter dated December 4, 2019 clarifies the PHMSA Drug and Alcohol Testing regulations in 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 199. Specifically, it clarifies as to whether certain employees would be subject to DOT drug and alcohol (D&A) testing, i.e., the testing described in the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs in 49 CFR Part 40. You can read that letter here.
Other PHMSA Interpretation Letters are also available for review.
The United States Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is amending Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations (49 CFR Part 195) to improve the safety of pipelines transporting hazardous liquids. The new rules:
- Extend reporting requirements to certain hazardous liquid gravity and rural gathering lines
- Require the inspection of pipelines in areas affected by extreme weather and natural disasters
- Require integrity assessments at least once every 10 years of onshore hazardous liquid pipeline segments located outside of high consequence areas and that are “piggable”
- Extend the required use of leak detection systems beyond high consequence areas to all regulated, non-gathering hazardous liquid pipelines
- Require that all pipelines in or affecting high consequence areas be capable of accommodating in-line inspection tools within 20 years, unless the basic construction of a pipeline cannot be modified to permit that accommodation
Additionally, PHMSA is clarifying other regulations and is incorporating Sections 14 and 25 of the PIPES Act of 2016 to improve regulatory certainty and compliance. The effective date of this final rule is July 1, 2020. More information on the new rules can be found in the Federal RegisterExternal Link.
State Law requires Pipeline Operators to notify the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Pipeline Safety Division of certain activities or changes in operations. Starting December 2018, pipeline operators may send certain required notifications or requests to OSFM by email to PipelineNotification@fire.ca.gov. All notifications and requests must be on a company letterhead. Examples of common notifications and requests include:
- Ownership Change
- Change of Service
- Hydrostatic Testing Notification
- In-Line (ILI) Inspection Waiver Requests
- Construction Notification
- Deferred Maintenance Requests (see ADB 2016-05External Link)
Requests and notifications sent to OSFM via email fulfil State notification requirements only and do not meet requirements for reporting to or notification of the Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA).
For questions regarding electronic notifications, please contact the Pipeline Safety Division at PipelineNotification@fire.ca.gov or by phone at (562) 497-0350.
The May 19, 2015 pipeline incident at Refugio Beach in Santa Barbara County spilled over 100,000 gallons of crude oil and impacted over 25 miles of coastline and ocean water. The impacts from the spill were devastating, both environmentally and economically. As a result, Assembly Bill 864 (Williams, Chapter 592, Statute of 2015) mandates the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to develop regulations requiring the use of best available technology on new, replacement, or retrofitted pipelines near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal zone (Title 5, California Government Code 51013.1).
The OSFM noticed draft regulations to implement the requirements of AB 864 on February 5, 2019. The proposed regulations are not yet final. Additional rule making information can be found on the OSFM website under the Code Development and Analysis Division’s Current Rulemaking Activities section. The following link will redirect you to the OSFM Title 19 Regulations Development webpage: https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/divisions/code-development-and-analysis/title-19-development/External Link. Follow the drop-down menu titled “PLS Intrastate Hazardous Liquids Pipelines – Best Available Technology” to draft regulation materials.