/ Regulatory Affairs Report
Laurie Knape - Committee Chair
713-296-6217email:
Send items to post in this report to Laurie Knape.
March, 2015
Agency / Description / Details
BSEE / Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement:
February 24, 2015
Coast Guard Alert 01-15 Washington, DC
BSEE Alert #315 DYNAMIC POSITIONING SYSTEM FAILURES ON OFFSHORE SUPPLY VESSELS ENGAGED IN OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS IN THE U.S. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF
Discussion: This Joint Safety Alert addresses a dynamic positioning (DP) incident involving an Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) which resulted in a loss of position while conducting a critical Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activity.
link to BSEE’s Federal Regulations /
BSEE Federal Regulations
NIOSH / Stand Tall, Stand Proud and Stand-Down for Fall Safety!
OSHA will host second-annual Construction Fall Safety Stand-Down, May 4-15, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Every day in this country, construction workers fall. One wrong step and they're tumbling down a steeply pitched roof, sliding or dropping off an unstable ladder, or left hanging from a scaffold. The difference between an unexpected stumble and tragedy is simple: fall protection.

NIOSH Regulatory Agenda

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IADC / 2015 IADC Drilling Onshore Conference & Exhibition
When:Thursday, 14 May, 2015–Thursday, 14 May, 2015
Where:Omni Houston Hotel - West Houston
IADC’s Drilling Onshore Conference & Exhibition is the only event specifically targeting onshore drilling operations. Drilling Onshore, with its top speakers and panels, explores issues affecting the onshore drilling industry, including technology, management, perspectives on future onshore activity and regulation. The conference will be held 14 May 2015 at the Omni Houston Hotel Westside in Houston, Texas.
IADC Safety Alerts /

OSHA / OSHA Quick Takes : A twice a monthly e-news product with information about workplace safety and health
OSHA is seeking input from occupational safety and health professionals and the public on about updating its regulations and requirements. Comments can be submitted at the agency's "Shaping Smarter Regulations" website until March 18 /

PHMSA / Guidance for Communications Before and During Pipeline Emergencies: Pipeline emergencies demand multiple parties’ quick, precise and coordinated judgment based on plans developed ahead of time. As part of the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Coast Guard’s ongoing effort to bridge the hazmat research gap among first responders, industry staff, and federal and state regulators, PHMSA contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct the Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program (HMCRP).
The program has finalized its latest report,HMCRP Report 14: Guide for Communicating Emergency Response Information for Natural Gas and Hazardous Liquids Pipelines,providing pipeline operators and emergency responders with comprehensive guidance on….
Pipeline and Hazardous MaterialsSafety Administration, 49 CFR Parts 191, 192, and 195GuPipeline Safety: MiscellaneousChanges to Pipeline SafetyRegulations
AGENCY: Pipeline and HazardousMaterials Safety Administration(PHMSA), Department of Transportation(DOT).
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: PHMSA is amending thepipeline safety regulations to makemiscellaneous changes that update andclarify certain regulatory requirements.These amendments address severalsubject matter areas including theperformance of post-constructioninspections, leak surveys of Type Bonshore gas gathering lines, qualifyingplastic pipe joiners, regulation ofethanol, transportation of pipe, filing ofoffshore pipeline condition reports, andcalculation of pressure reductions forhazardous liquid pipeline anomalies.
n for Communications Before and During Pipeline mergences /


BOEM / Obama Administration to Offer Over 41 Million Acres in the Gulf of Mexico for Oil and Gas Development
Final Notice of Sale for Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area
02-05-2015 WASHINGTON - As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper today announced that Interior will offer 41.2 million acres for oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico in a March lease sale. /
EPA / Information Collection Request Submitted to OMB for Review and Approval; Comment Request; National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Aerosol Coatings: The EPA is required under section 183(e) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to regulate volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the use of consumer and commercial products. Pursuant to CAA section 183(e)(3), the EPA published a list of consumer and commercial products and a schedule for their regulation (60 FR 15264). Aerosol coatings are included on the list, and the standards for such coatings are codified at 40 CFR part 59, subpart E. The reports required under the standards enable the EPA to identify coating formulations manufactured, imported or distributed in the United States, and to determine the product weighted reactivity. /
Safety Alerts /

New Arc Flash White Paper Explains New Labeling Procedures: NFPA 70E gets updated every 3 years. This update includes revision to arc flash warning label content, selecting appropriate PPE, and minor terminology changes (such as "work shoes" becoming"footwear”) among others.

Brady hasreleased a white paper titled “Improve Safety With Arc Flash Labeling.” It explainswhat needs to be labeled and what should be on the labels and the labeling tools needed to comply with the updated 2015 NFPA 70E arc flash regulation /
CDC /

Update: Influenza Activity — United States, September 28, 2014–February 21, 2015 - Weekly

March 6, 2015 / 64(08);206-212
Influenza activity in the United States began to increase in mid-November, remained elevated through February 21, 2015, and is expected to continue for several more weeks. To date, influenza A (H3N2) viruses have predominated overall. As has been observed in previous seasons during which influenza A (H3N2) viruses predominated, adults aged ≥65 years have been most severely affected. The cumulative laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalization rate among adults aged ≥65 years is the highest recorded since this type of surveillance began in 2005. This age group also accounts for the majority of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza. The majority of circulating influenza A (H3N2) viruses are different from the influenza A (H3N2) component of the 2014–15 Northern Hemisphere seasonal vaccines, and the predominance of these antigenically and genetically drifted viruses has resulted in reduced vaccine effectiveness (1). This report summarizes U.S. influenza activity* since September 28, 2014, and updates the previous summary (2). /