Pipeline Regulations Overview

In most of the countries the operation of pipeline systems is governed by the Legislation, Regulation, Controlling and Standardizing levels. The Legislation level is usually presented by the country’s government law or act defining the roles of Regulation, Controlling and Standardizing levels as well as liabilities in case of pipeline incident. Depending on jurisdiction the pipeline is running through (province or state, territories, national parks, etc.), the national legislation may be complemented or substituted on a local level.
The Regulation authority role can be assigned to federal agency, ministry or department. Typically the Regulation body is involved in defining requirements and procedures for safe operation of the pipeline. The Regulation body works close with Controlling organization to perform preventative pipeline inspections, incidents investigation and provide input for improving regulations and standards. The standards are developed by assigned organizations. The regulatory and controlling roles can be combined and taken by one organization.
A dramatic step in both legislation and regulations has been made during past two decades. Most of the countries with a well developed pipeline network has developed their own standards and regulations. A survey of legislative and regulatory references by counties is presented below.

United States of America
The main Legislation act governing pipeline activities in United States is Pipeline Inspection, Protection, Enforcement and Safety Act (PIPES). The U.S. Congress charges Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) of U.S. Department of Transportation to define regulations and standards for pipeline construction, welding procedures, acceptance inspections and testing, minimum federal safety standards, issue recommendations for pipeline damage prevention measures, spill response procedures, implementation of leak detection systems, corrosion protection, pipeline maintenance, and many other aspects of pipeline safety under Integrity Management (IM) program. PHMSA has been promoting IM initiative since 1997 and has demonstrated steady decrease in terms of pipeline accidents number and total hazardous liquids volume lost.
Due to a wide variety of pipelines, products being transported and their volume, such environmental factors as soil type, moisture, temperature, topography, seismicity, PHMSA leaves responsibility for development of IM program and leak detection systems as its part to operators. As per safety regulations the pipeline leak detection systems are required for the pipelines that could affect a High Consequence Areas. Pipeline operators have a choice of the most appropriate leak detection system to be implemented in their IM program.
As per its mandate PHMSA is performing inspections of all hazardous liquid pipelines IM programs and leak detection systems. In response to issues found, PHMSA initiates enforcement actions by formally documenting its concerns. Operators are required to respond to the enforcement actions by providing revised procedures, programs and equipment. Following revisions submitted, operators must undertake a re-evaluation of their leak detection systems. PHMSA then reviews the revised procedures and determines if revisions address issues identified.
The PHMSA combines both Regulatory and Controlling organizations roles and relies on America Petroleum Institute (API) for standards. In particular when a Computational Pipeline Monitoring system is used, PHMSA requires compliance to the requirements of the national consensus standard published by the API 1130.

Canada
The government of Canada has introduced Pipeline Safety Act in late 2014. This act defines legislative measures to further enhance Canada’s pipeline safety system. In particular it increases the number of annual pipeline inspections and audits and enhances enforcement capabilities by giving authority to fine pipeline operators for smaller incidents.
The pipelines crossing provincial or national borders of Canada are regulated by an independent federal agency, the National Energy Board (NEB). The role of NEB is to make pipeline operators complying to strict requirements in safety and environment which is similar to the duties of its U.S. counterpart, PHMSA. Depending on the type of the land the pipeline is going through, the operators are also subject to regulations of other federal and provincial bodies.
Pipelines which operate solely within a province should in most of the cases comply with provincial regulations. For example, more than 400,000 km of oil and gas pipelines operated within the province of Alberta are regulated by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). The AER ensures that the design, construction, operation, and maintenance - including discontinuation and abandonment of regulated pipelines - complies with Alberta’s Pipeline Act, Pipeline Regulation, and applicable Canadian Standards Association (CSA) standards.
The independent Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is charged to conduct investigation of incidents with pipelines falling under jurisdiction of NEB. The investigations are aimed at identifying root causes and contributing factors for incidents. Investigation is followed by recommendations for preventing and mitigating future risks. The right of performing investigations after pipeline incidents is passed to local provincial regulators in case if the pipeline operates within a province.
Regulations for pipelines are based on standards developed by Canadian Standards Association (CSA). The main standard providing guidance on the safe design, construction and maintenance of pipeline systems is CSA Z662 - Oil and Gas Pipeline Systems. In total, there are 11 standards published by CSA, which cover the design, construction, operation and maintenance of oil and gas pipeline systems and underground storage of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas.