22-01-99 The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region joined federal and State agencies in signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that provides a framework to assess the present condition and inspection needs of offshore pipelines in California. Agencies participating in the MoA include the California State Lands Commission; the California State Fire Marshal; the California Department of Commerce, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources; and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The MoA was signed in Sacramento, California.

"This MoA represents the diligent efforts of the participating agencies to develop a consensus-based process that allows pipeline operators to develop performance-based inspection strategies tailored to individual pipelines," said Dr. J. Lisle Reed, MMS Pacific OCS Regional Director. "This approach should simplify requirements for operators while assuring the most efficient use of pipeline survey technology."

The MoA was first drafted in 1996 to implement the Offshore California Pipeline Inspection Survey (OCPIS) plan, a consensus-based, decision-making process developed by the MoA agencies to assess the condition and inspection needs of oil and gas pipelines offshore California. Over the past several years, the MoA agencies have enjoyed great success working together with the OCPIS plan and the draft MoA. The official MoA signing formalises both the draft federal/State joint pipeline agreement and the implementation of the OCPIS plan.

MMS is the federal agency that manages the Nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the OCS, and collects, accounts for and disburses about $ 4 bn yearly in revenue from offshore federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on federal and Indian lands.