American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2015 - 20

IndustryDigest
modifications, and that third-party
certifications are a useful tool for
verifying safety measures," Luthi adds.
BSEE says a 60-day comment period
commenced on publication of the
proposed rule in the April 15 Federal
Register. The rule may be viewed at
www.bsee.gov/uploadedFiles/BSEE/Re
gulations_and_Guidance/Recently_Finalized_Rules/Well_Control_Rule/BSE
E 2015-08587 Final FR 04-13-15.pdf. Ì

OSHA Violator Program
Covers Oil, Gas Fields

WASHINGTON-The Occupational
Safety & Health Administration says it
is expanding its Severe Violator
Enforcement Program to including oil
and natural gas drilling, well operations
and service work. The agency adds the
program applies to all employers,
regardless of size.
According to OSHA, the program
concentrates resources on inspecting
employers that have demonstrated
indifference to federal safety
obligations by committing willful,
repeated or failure-to-abate violations.
Under the revision, if during a
nonfatality inspection of employers in
gas and production services, drilling
and well completion sector, or upstream
oil and gas industry, OSHA finds two or
more willful or repeated violations or
failure to abate notices, or any
combination of violations and notices, it
will classify the employer as a severe
violator enforcement case, the agency
says.
Severe violators are subject to
mandatory follow-up inspections,
increased company/corporate awareness
of OSHA enforcement, corporatewide
agreements, enhanced settlement
provisions, and federal court
enforcement in a fatality or catastrophe
situation, industry operations that
expose employees to the most severe
occupations hazards or to the potential
release of highly hazardous chemicals,
or all egregious enforcement actions.
The policy targets upstream
employers based on the industry's
worker fatality rate. OSHA says over
the past 20 years, upstream operations
have experienced fatality rates ranging
from five to eight times greater than the
national average for all U.S. industries.
OSHA adds that states are required to
20 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

either adopt the program or establish an
equivalent one, with the policies and
procedures adopted within six months. Ì

DOT Slows Oil Trains
Through Urban Areas

WASHINGTON-Trains hauling
crude oil will be limited to traveling 40
miles an hour in urban areas under an
emergency order issued jointly on April
17 by the Federal Railroad
Administration and the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration.
Secretary Anthony Foxx notes that the
emergency order, which was issued along
with two safety advisories, join more than
two dozen changes the U.S. Department of
Transportation has initiated during the past
year and a half to address accidents
involving trains carrying highly flammable
liquids, "and we are not done yet."
According to the FRA, the
emergency order stipulates that
"affected trains" not exceed 40 mph in
high-threat urban areas. An affected
train is defined as one that contains:
* 20 or more loaded tank cars in a
continuous block or 35 total containing
a Class 3 flammable liquid; and
* At least one DOT-111 or CPC1232 tank car.
Published reports note that major
freight railroads already limit oil trains
to no more than 40 mph in high-threat
urban areas under a voluntary
agreement reached with DOT last year.
April's order makes it mandatory and
extends it to all Class 3 flammable
liquids, including ethanol.
In addition, the FRA says it is
recommending that only "the highest
skilled inspectors" conduct brake and
mechanical inspections of trains
transporting large quantities of
flammable liquids, and that railroads
decrease the threshold for wayside
detectors that measure wheel impacts.
The two safety advisories issued by
PHMSA and FRA remind carriers and
shippers of the types of information
they must make available to emergency
responders and investigators. These
include:
* A description and technical name
of the hazardous material;
* Risks of fire or explosion;
* Immediate precautions to be taken
in the event of an accident;
* Methods for handling fires, spills

or leaks;
* Preliminary first-aid measures;
* A 24-hour telephone number for
product information;
* Results of product testing
undertaken prior to transportation used
to characterize Class 3 flammable
liquids; and
* The name and location of the
company transporting the material from
the wellhead to the loading facility or
terminal.
"Our first priority is to prevent
accidents from happening," comments
acting PHMSA Administrator Tim
Butters. "But when accidents do occur,
first responders need to have the right
information quickly." Ì

USFWS Lists Northern
Long-Eared Bat As
Threatened Under ESA

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service says it decided to list
the northern long-eared bat as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act
because of white-nose syndrome, a
fungal disease, not human activities such
as oil or gas development.
At the same time, USFWS is inviting
public comments on an interim rule that
it says will eliminate unnecessary
regulatory requirements for landowners,
land managers, government agencies
and others in the bat's habitat range.
The service is considering whether
modifications or exemptions for
additional categories of activities should
be included in the 4(d) rule it says
should be finalized by the end of 2015.
USFWS says it will accept public
comments on the proposed rule until
July 1, and may make revisions based
on additional information it receives.
The agency proposed the bat as
endangered in October 2013 after
finding severe population declines
reported across its traditional
hibernation sites. The northern longeared bat is found from Maine to North
Carolina on the Atlantic Coast, west to
eastern Oklahoma and north through the
Dakotas, reaching into eastern Montana
and Wyoming.
Under the ESA, the service says it
may implement special rules under
section 4(d) to allow it to tailor
protections to those necessary to
conserve the species.
http://www.bsee.gov/uploadedFiles/BSEE/Regulations_and_Guidance/Recently_Finalized_Rules/Well_Control_Rules/BSEE2015-08587FinalFR40-13-15.pdf
American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2015

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