CHAPTER I REPORTS REQUIRED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The federal government requires every LP gas operator to telephone a report of any "incident" and, for some operators, to follow it up with a written report. The federal government may also require the LP gas operator to file a “safety related condition” report and an “annual report”. This chapter describes briefly each of these reports.
INCIDENT REPORTS
NOTE: Check with your state agency for any additional state reporting requirements. These can include lower dollar amounts of damage, media covering the incident, response by local emergency responders, road closure or evacuation.
It is required to telephone an incident report at the earliest possible moment, but in any case within two hours:
- of a release of LP gas from a system and:
- a death or personal injury requiring hospitalization or damage, including
the cost of LP gas lost of $50,000.
- an event that is significant in the judgment of the operator, even though
it was not described above.
This telephone report of an incident should include:
- identity of reporting operator;
- name and phone number of individual reporting the incident;
- location of the incident (city, county, state and street address);
- time of the incident (date and hour);
- number of fatalities and personal injuries, if any;
- type and extent of property damage;
- description of the incident.
The telephone incident report is made to the National Response Center at:
TOLL FREE (800) 424-8802 IN WASHINGTON, D.C. (202) 267-2675 24 HOURS EVERY DAY
REMEMBER, WHEN IN DOUBT MAKE THE CALL! See 49 CFR 191.5 for further information.
With the exception of master meter systems, operators of LP gas systems making a telephone report of an incident must follow it up with a written report.
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Chapter I – 11/30/2000 Address for Incident Reports
All required incident reports must be submitted on Form RSPA F7100.1 to:
US Department of Transportation
Office of Pipeline Safety Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Attn: Information Resources Manager, Room 2103
400 7th Street SW.
Washington, D.C. 20590
See 49 CFR 191.7 and 191.9 for further information.
SAFETY-RELATED CONDITION REPORTS
OPS may require operators of LP gas systems to report certain safety-related conditions.
A written report must be filed within five working days after the operator first determines that a safety-related condition exists, but not later than ten working days after the day the operator discovers the condition.
Each operator who is required to file a safety-related condition report is also required to update the operations and maintenance plan to include instructions enabling personnel who perform operation and maintenance activities to recognize conditions that may be safety-related conditions.
Typical conditions that would need to be reported by an LP gas operator include:
- unintended movement or abnormal loading of pipeline facilities by environmental
causes such as earthquakes, landslides or floods, that impairs the serviceability
of a pipeline;
- any malfunction or operating error that causes the pressure of a pipeline
to rise above its maximum allowable operating pressure plus the pressure
build-up allowed for operation of pressure limiting or control devices;
- a leak that constitutes an emergency and is not repaired within five days
of determination;
Safety-related conditions that do not require a report include:
- condition on a customer-owned service line;
- a condition resulting in an incident, as defined in 49 CFR 191.3.;
- a condition on a pipeline more than 220 yards from any building or
outdoor place of assembly, unless it is within the right-of-way of an active
railroad, paved road or highway;
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Chapter I – 11/30/2000
- a condition that is corrected before the report filing deadline, except
for certain corrosion related conditions.
See 49 CFR 191.23(b) for further information.
Address for Safety-Related Condition Reports
All required written reports must be submitted to:
US Department of Transportation
Office of Pipeline Safety Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Attn: Information Resources Manager, Room 2103
400 7th Street SW.
Washington, D.C. 20590
In addition, an LP gas system operator may be required to file a report with the state agency participating in the pipeline safety program. For further details on the filing requirements refer to 49 CFR 191.7. However, an operator must file a written report that contains all the information as specified in 49 CFR 191.25(b).
ANNUAL REPORTS
Operators of LP gas systems serving 100 or more customers from a single source must submit an annual report for that system. This report must be submitted on DOT Form RSPA F 7100.1-1. This report must be submitted each year, not later than March 15, for the preceding calendar year.
Address for Annual Reports
All required annual reports must be submitted to:
US Department of Transportation
Office of Pipeline Safety Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Attn: Information Resources Manager, Room 2103
400 7th Street SW.
Washington, D.C. 20590
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