A RISK-BASED DRILL CANDIDATE SELECTION SYSTEM FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY

摘要

The Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation plans and conducts about 20 government- led tabletop exercises and two area exercises annually under its Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) drill program. Until recently, one of the main objectives in the drill candidate selection process each year was to select a mixture of operators whose pipeline facility spill response plans represented the range of plans required under the agency?s OPA 90 regulation. The annual list of drill candidates represented large to small operators trans- porting crude oil and refined products in various regions of the country. While this approach has worked well, OPS wanted to ensure that the selection process was not inadvertently missing operators whose pipeline facility spills pose the greatest threats to safety and the environment. As a result, OPS developed a quantitative-based process to identify drill candidates. The proc- ess uses weighted factors, including input from the Regional Pipeline Safety Offices combined with professional judgment to produce a risk-based approach to help OPS select the operators to drill.