Office of Compliance and Enforcement is responsible for the Commission’s Gas Pipeline Safety Program.
(L to R) Compliance Inspector Damon Patterson, Damage Prevention Inspector James Modozie, Pipeline Safety Engineer Manmohan Singh, Compliance and Enforcement Officer Donald Jackson, Pipeline Safety Engineer Ahmadou Bagayoko, Program Support Specialist Anjanette Parker, Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Matters Stephen A. Mormann, and Chief of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement Udeozo Ogbue.
The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (Commission) received a 100% rating for its implementation of the District’s CY 2016 Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Program from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The Commission provides oversight of intrastate natural gas pipelines in the District through annual certification and partial funding by PHMSA. Each calendar year, PHMSA’s State Program Office reviews and scores the State Commission’s Annual Pipeline Safety Certification and Progress Report. Through the Progress Report Review, the PHMSA State Program Office verifies that minimum requirements established by PHMSA are met by the Commission. As in previous years, the DC Commission’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement scored 100% on the Progress Report. PHMSA also conducts the Annual Performance Evaluation of the pipeline safety program procedures, records, field activities and inspections of the Commission’s Gas Pipeline Safety Program. The Commission’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement also scored 100% on PHMSA’s Annual Performance Evaluation of the pipeline safety program procedures, records, field activities and inspections for CY 2016. With the Performance Evaluation result (100%) and the Progress Report score (100%), the DCPSC received the overall score of 100% for CY 2016, as it did for CY 2015.
Dr. Udeozo Ogbue, P.Eng., Chief of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement and Program Manager for Pipeline Safety and Damage Prevention, states: "I wish to thank and congratulate our Pipeline Safety Engineers/Inspectors, Damage Prevention Inspector, Compliance and Enforcement Officer, and all OCE Staff for this accomplishment. I also wish to thank Chairman Kane, Commissioner Philips, Commissioner Beverly, Executive Director Veronica Ahern, OTRA Deputy Executive Director Stephen Mormann, and our Office of the General Counsel Attorney Advisor/Liaison Milena Yordanova for their continued support and encouragement of OCE’s efforts. We will continue our maximum efforts to help keep the District safe from the hazards of natural gas transportation. We have achieved this stellar, high-bar performance for CY 2016 as we did for CY 2015." To quote a recent BP safety commercial: “Safety is never being satisfied and always working to be better.”
The Commission's Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Program and Damage Prevention Program assure compliance with federal and District of Columbia regulations and codes by:
- Assigning a PHMSA-trained and certified Pipeline Safety Program Manager to lead and champion the programs
- Deploying three PHMSA-trained and certified pipeline safety engineers/inspectors to conduct daily inspections of pipeline construction and maintenance sites, operational records, operator qualifications, and pipeline facilities
- Deploying one Damage Prevention Inspector to conduct daily excavation damage prevention inspections
- Conducting accident investigations
- Implementing enforcement actions
- Assessing risks and developing regulations and standards to facilitate natural gas pipeline safety and excavation damage prevention
- Monitoring the training and verifying the operator qualifications of the gas utility personnel
- Promoting natural gas pipeline safety and excavation damage prevention through public education and communication programs (in collaboration with the Office of Consumer Services).
Please visit the Commission website at
www.dcpsc.org for more information about the Commission’s Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Program.