[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 1, 1998)] [Notices] [Pages 36030-36031] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-17477] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Research and Special Programs Administration [Docket No. RSPA-97-2426; Notice 2] Pipeline Safety: National Pipeline Mapping System AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT. ACTION: Public workshops. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: RSPA invites natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipeline operators, liquefied natural gas facility operations managers, mapping specialists, federal and state government agencies, and the public, to attend one of four public workshops on the national pipeline mapping system (NPMS). This digital mapping system, when complete, will show the location and selected attributes of the major natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities in the United States. At each of the workshops we will provide: An overview of the NPMS; details on the types of information OPS is requesting for the NPMS; facts about how we will use this information; technical specifications for submitting attribute data, geospatial data, and metadata; information about the national and state repository system; and advice on how to convert paper maps to digital data, should you want to convert. DATES AND LOCATIONS: Four workshops will be held:July 14-15--Adam's Mark Hotels and Resorts, Houston, TX, 2900 Briarpark Drive at Westheimer, (800) 436-2326; September 1-2--Hotel Arlington Heights, Arlington Heights, IL, 75 W. Algonquin Road, (847) 364-7600; [[Page 36031]] September 23-24--ANA Hotel, San Francisco, CA, 50 Third Street, (415) 974-6400; October 28-29--Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington DC, 10 Thomas Circle, (202) 842-1300. All workshops will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Specifics on registration and hotel accommodation information are available on the OPS Homepage-- http:// ops.dot.gov or may be obtained by calling Janice Morgan, (202) 366- 2392. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Transportation's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) is working with other federal and state agencies and the pipeline industry to create a national pipeline mapping system. The NPMS will be a digital mapping data base. This system, when complete, will show the location and selected attributes of the major natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines, and liquefied natural gas facilities in the United States. This would include information on interstate and intrastate natural gas transmission pipelines and hazardous liquid transmission lines. This would not include information on gas service lines, gas distribution lines, gathering lines, flow lines, or spur lines. OPS will add additional data layers to the system, including layers to describe population densities, areas unusually sensitive to environmental damage, natural disaster probability and high-consequence areas, hydrography, and transportation networks. OPS will use the system to depict pipelines in relation to the public and the environment, and to work with other government agencies and industry during an incident. The NPMS will provide federal and state governments and the pipeline industry with information on pipeline locations and their proximity to safety sensitive areas. For example, these include places where people live and work, community drinking water supplies, and national parks and historical areas. The NPMS will consist of multiple state repositories and a single national repository. The repositories will follow one mapping data standard to digitize, convert, and process the data. DOT strongly urges all natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipeline and liquefied natural gas facility operators to attend one of these meetings and to voluntarily provide mapping data for inclusion in the national pipeline mapping system. OPS will begin requesting pipeline operators to submit digital data early in 1999. OPS will accept paper data following collection of mapping data that has already been digitized. Two Joint Government-Industry Pipeline Mapping Quality Action Teams (MQAT) have worked to create the national pipeline mapping system digital pipeline location and attribute layer. The teams are sponsored by OPS, the American Petroleum Institute, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, and the American Gas Association. Represented on the teams are OPS, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the states of Texas, Louisiana, California, New York, and Minnesota, and the natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry. The first team, MQAT I, analyzed various mapping alternatives and determined a cost-effective strategy for creating a reasonably accurate depiction (plus or minus 500 feet, for a corridor width of 1,000 feet) of transmission pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities in the U.S. The findings of MQAT I are described in a report titled: ``Strategies for Creating a National Pipeline Mapping System'. MQAT II implemented the strategies outlined by the first team. MQAT II developed the national pipeline mapping data standards that will be used to create the digital pipeline layer in the national pipeline mapping system. These include standards for electronic data submissions, paper map submissions, and metadata (data on the data). The team has also developed standards that will be used by the pipeline mapping repository receiving the pipeline information. Both standards were pilot tested by state agencies, industry, and others to test the exchange of data that met the standards. A copy of the standards can be viewed and downloaded from the OPS Internet web site. The Internet web site is http://ops.dot.gov. The standards can also be obtained by calling (202) 366-4561. OPS has established a multi-phase approach to create the NPMS. This approach will allow industry and government to efficiently upgrade information in a manner that works with other business needs. OPS strongly urges all natural gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipeline operators and liquefied natural gas facility operators to provide mapping data. With federal and state agencies and operators all contributing, we can save time and money. To be successful, we need your help. Please attend one of four public workshops to learn how you can participate. Issued in Washington, DC on June 25, 1998. Richard B. Felder, Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety. [FR Doc. 98-17477 Filed 6-30-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-60-P