| (iii) camera surveillance at facilities that are attended
at an on-site control room 24 hours per day.
(B) Fire detectors shall be tested twice each calendar
year at intervals not to exceed 7 1/2 months and, when defective,
repaired or replaced within 10 days.
(C) Within three years of the effective date of this
section, each storage wellhead in active storage service shall have
fire suppression capability designed to aid in personnel rescue and
for equipment protection and cooling. Within one year of the effective
date of this section, the operator may request an exception to the
schedule or fire suppression requirement of this subparagraph and
propose an alternative schedule or means of protection from wellhead
fire for approval of the Commission or its designee.
(8) Emergency response plan. Each storage facility
shall submit to the Commission a written emergency response plan.
The plan shall address spills and releases, fires, fire suppression
capability, explosions, loss of electricity, and loss of telecommunication
services. The plan shall describe the storage facility's emergency
response communication system, procedures for coordination of emergency
communication and response activities with local emergency planning
committees and other local authorities, use of warning systems, procedures
for citizen and employee emergency notification and evacuation, and
employee training. The initial plan must be designed based upon the
existing safety measures at the facility. The plan shall be updated
as changes in safety features at the facility occur, or as the Commission
or its designee requires. The plan shall include a plat of the facility
that shows the location of wells, processing areas, loading racks,
brine pits, and other significant features at the site. A copy of
the plan shall be provided to the local emergency response planning
committee and to any other local governmental entity that submits
a written request for a copy of the plan to the operator. Copies of
the plan shall also be available at the storage facility and at the
company headquarters.
(9) Notification of emergency or uncontrolled release.
(A) Emergency response personnel. Each operator shall
notify the county sheriff's office, the county emergency management
coordinator, and any other appropriate public officials, which are
identified in the emergency response plan, of any emergency that could
endanger nearby residents or property. Such emergencies include, but
are not limited to, an uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons from a
storage well, or a leak or fire at any area of the storage facility.
The operator shall give notice as soon as practicable following the
discovery of the emergency. At the time of the notice, the operator
shall report an assessment of the potential threat to the public.
(B) Commission. The operator shall report to the appropriate
Commission district office as soon as practicable any emergency, significant
loss of fluids, significant mechanical failure, or other problem that
increases the potential for an uncontrolled release. The operator
shall file with the Commission within 30 days of the incident a written
report on the root cause of the incident. The operator shall file
with the Commission within 90 days of the incident a written report
that describes the operational changes, if any, that have been or
will be implemented to reduce the likelihood of a recurrence of a
similar incident. An operator may request that the Commission grant,
for good cause, a reasonable amount of additional time to file a written
report on the root cause of the incident.
(10) Public education. Each facility operator shall
establish a continuing educational program to inform residents within
a one-mile radius of a hydrocarbon storage facility of emergency notification
and evacuation procedures.
(11) Annual emergency drill. Annually, each operator
shall conduct a drill that tests response to a simulated emergency.
Written notice of the drill shall be provided to the appropriate Commission
district office, the county emergency management coordinator, and
the county sheriff's office at least seven days prior to the drill.
Local emergency response authorities shall be invited to participate
in all such drills. The operator shall file a written evaluation of
the drill and plans for improvements with the appropriate district
office and the county emergency management coordinator within 30 days
after the date of the drill.
(12) Employee safety training.
(A) Each operator shall prepare and implement a plan
to train and test each employee at each underground hydrocarbon storage
facility on operational safety to the extent applicable to the employee's
duties and responsibilities. The facility's emergency response plan
shall be included in the training program.
(B) Each operator shall hold a safety meeting with
each contractor prior to the commencement of any new contract work
at an underground hydrocarbon storage facility. Emergency measures,
including safety and evacuation measures specific to the contractor's
work, shall be explained in the contractor safety meeting.
(13) Warning systems and alarms.
(A) All leak detectors, fire detectors, heat sensors,
pressure sensors, and emergency shutdown instrumentation shall be
integrated with warning systems that are audible and visible in the
local control room and at any remote control center. The circuitry
shall be designed so that failure of a detector or heat sensor, excluding
meltdown and fused devices, to function will activate the warning.
(B) A manually operated alarm shall be installed at
each attended storage facility. The alarm shall be audible in areas
of the facility where personnel are normally located.
(14) Wind socks. At least one wind sock that is visible
at any time from any normal work location within the storage facility
shall be installed at the facility.
(15) Barriers. Barriers designed to prevent unintended
impact by vehicles and equipment shall be placed around above-grade
hydrocarbon piping, hydrocarbon process equipment, and surface hydrocarbon
storage vessels in areas where vehicles may normally be expected to
travel or within 100 feet of a public road.
(16) Wellhead, surface piping, and associated valves.
All wellhead equipment, product, fresh water, and brine surface piping,
and associated valves shall be designed, installed, and operated in
accordance with engineering standards to the expected service conditions
to which the piping and equipment will be subjected.
(i) Cavern capacity and configuration.
(1) Crude oil storage. The provisions of this subsection
shall not apply to underground hydrocarbon storage facilities where
only crude oil is stored.
(2) Before storage operations begin. The capacity and
configuration of each hydrocarbon storage cavern (both salt domes
and bedded salt) shall be determined by sonar survey before storage
operations begin in a newly completed cavern.
(3) Salt domes. The capacity and configuration of each
salt dome hydrocarbon storage cavern shall be determined by sonar
survey at least once every 10 years.
(4) Bedded salt. The configuration of the roof of each
hydrocarbon storage cavern in bedded salt shall be determined by downhole
log or an alternate method approved by the Commission or its designee
at least once every five years.
(5) Filing results. Sonar and roof monitoring survey
results shall be filed with the Commission within 30 days after the
survey.
(6) Out-of-service caverns. A sonar or roof monitoring
survey is not required for a cavern that is out of service. A sonar
or roof monitoring survey shall be performed before any cavern that
has been out of service is returned to service, unless the provisions
of paragraph (2) of this subsection apply.
(j) Well completion, casing, and cementing. Hydrocarbon
storage wells shall be cased and the casing strings cemented to prevent
fluids from escaping to the surface or into fresh water strata, or
otherwise escaping and causing waste or endangering public safety
or the environment.
(1) New wells.
(A) All hydrocarbon storage wells drilled in salt domes
after the effective date of this section shall have at least two casing
strings cemented into the salt formation. Sufficient cement shall
be used to fill the annular space outside the casing from the casing
shoe to the ground surface, or from the casing shoe to a point at
least 200 feet above the shoe of the previous casing string.
(B) All hydrocarbon storage wells in bedded salt drilled
after the effective date of this section shall have all casing strings
cemented with sufficient cement to fill the annular space outside
each casing string from the casing shoe to the ground surface.
(2) Well completion report. A well completion report
shall be filed in accordance with the instructions on the form prescribed
by the Commission within 30 days after a storage well is completed
and before solution mining to create the cavern begins.
(k) Operating requirements.
Cont'd... |
