49 CFR Part 194

49 CFR Part 194

Response Plans for Onshore Oil Pipelines

Part 194 concerns response plans for onshore oil pipelines. Its Subparts A (General) and B (Response Plans) are shown only by title. Appendix A provides a recommended (not mandatory) format for preparing response plans, covering items such as notification procedures, spill detection and mitigation procedures, response activities and resources, training, drills, and plan review and update procedures, and Appendix B lists high volume areas as of January 5, 1993.

§ 194.3

Applicability.

Part 194 applies to operators of onshore oil pipelines that, because of their location, could reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm or significant and substantial harm to the environment by discharging oil into or on any navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines.

§ 194.5 “Adverse weather”

Adverse weather means the weather conditions an operator will consider when identifying response systems and equipment to be deployed in accordance with a response plan. Factors to consider include ice conditions, temperature ranges, weather-related visibility, significant wave height (as specified in 33 CFR Part 154, Appendix C, Table 1), and currents in the areas where those systems or equipment are intended to function.

§ 194.5 “Breakout tank”

A breakout tank is a tank that either relieves surges in an oil pipeline system or receives and stores oil from a pipeline so it can be reinjected and moved onward through the pipeline. This is a definitional provision.

§ 194.5 “Contract or other approved means”

"Contract or other approved means" is how an operator shows it has response resources lined up: either a written contract or other legally binding agreement with a response contractor or other spill response organization guaranteeing specific people and equipment will arrive within certain times in a certain area, or a certification that the operator owns or operates the equipment and has its own people ready within those times and area, or active membership in a local or regional oil spill removal organization that has committed specific resources and response times for that area.