The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Pacific Region; U. S. Department of
Transportation, Office of Pipeline Safety; California State Lands Commission; California
State Fire Marshall; and California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and
Geothermal Resources signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on January 21,1999, to employ
coordination and consensus to resolve issues of mutual concern with respect to offshore
oil and natural gas pipelines. The MOA commits the signatories to implementing the
Offshore California Pipeline Inspection Survey Plan process and procedures which provide a
coordinated analytical framework for assessing the present condition and inspection needs
of offshore pipelines.
Background
The MMS, Pacific OCS Region, in reviewing recent offshore pipeline inspection
surveys, recognized the need for refinements that would benefit both industry and
government while ensuring safety and protection of the environment. Realizing that other
Federal, State, and local agencies have different inspection requirements on the same
pipelines, the MMS invited interested agencies to participate in a technical workgroup to
review existing Federal and State agency requirements for inspections of pipelines on the
Pacific Outer Continental Shelf. The Pipeline Inspection Quality
Improvement Team convened in Spring of 1994. The Pipeline Inspection Quality
Improvement Team was composed of representatives from the MMS, California State Lands
Commission, California State Fire Marshal (CSFM), and California Division of Oil, Gas, and
Geothermal Resources. The CSFM acted as the representative for the U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT). After extensive evaluation of existing inspection requirements,
the Team concluded that the best approach to inspecting offshore pipelines is to
critically examine each line individually and develop a performance-based inspection
schedule for each based on the present condition of the line. The Offshore California
Pipeline Inspection Survey (OCPIS) Plan was developed by the Team to provide guidelines to
improve the quality of pipeline inspection surveys.
Offshore California Pipeline Inspection Survey (OCPIS)
Plan
Memorandum of Agreement
