The Department of Transportation and its Office of Pipeline Safety have been involved with in-line inspection (ILI) pigs since the construction of the Alaska crude oil pipeline in the early 1970s. Two Congressionally mandated reports concerning ILI pigs and a regulation requiring new and replaced pipe and components to be designed and constructed to accommodate ILI pigs have been issued by the Department. Although there is no present federal requirement to run ILI pigs, they are required by the Office of Pipeline Safety in selected compliance cases. The Department will continue to use ILI pigs in compliance cases. It also supports future ILI pig research, and the use of ILI pig surveys incorporated in any pipeline operator’s future risk management plans developed as safety alternatives to the established pipeline safety regulations. The Department also in the future may require ILI pigs to be run on some pipelines.
Keyword: Authorization act, Congress, DOT, in-line inspection, NTSB, OPS, pig, pipeline, pipeline safety, reauthorization act, regulation, smart pig.