Charter
Authorization
A Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Advisory Committee (hereafter referred to as the "Committee") is authorized by the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) as an element of its Cooperative Agreement (No. DTPH56-07-0001) with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Program Area 1 & 4). Therefore, the Task Force is accountable to the NASFM Board of Directors, which, in turn, is accountable to
PHMSA.
Membership
In all respects, participation on the Committee is voluntary and in no way part of any legal or regulatory process at any level of government.
The Committee shall consist of no more than 15 individuals, appointed by the President of the National Association of State Fire Marshals with the consent of a majority of the NASFM Directors. A Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall be designated in the same manner.
The members of the Committee shall be recognized experts in hazardous materials emergency response, training of emergency responders, pipeline safety and methods of distribution of materials to emergency responders. Members may represent the emergency services, industry, government and/or academia.
Terms of office shall be two years and may be renewed. The President of NASFM, with the approval of the NASFM Directors, may remove an individual from the Committee if that person fails to contribute productively to the program. Members of the Committee may resign in writing at any time.
Scope
The Committee's work shall be consistent with the goals of the NASFM-PHMSA Cooperative Agreement and specifically all Program Areas of that Agreement (See Appendix A), which address the challenge of ensuring the safety of emergency responders during hazardous materials incidents.
The goals of the Committee are to enhance the effectiveness of the existing NASFM-PHMSA hazardous materials and pipeline safety initiatives, outreach programs and to develop and test a new model for the deployment of Geographical Information System (GIS) technology to hazardous materials incident commanders. The committee may also consider other issues or projects that are deemed appropriate and relevant to pipeline and hazardous materials safety.
The Committee may not speak on behalf of NASFM, nor shall NASFM represent itself as speaking on behalf of any member of the Committee. NASFM may make reference to reports and other products formally approved by the Committee as a whole.
Resources
The Committee shall support and be supported by project consultants responsible for the research, writing, testing and production of emergency responder hazardous materials safety training and geographic information system materials. In addition, the Committee shall receive full staff support from NASFM in the coordination of all meetings and preparation of all documents.
Accountabilities
The Committee members shall:
- Advise NASFM on the selection of project consultants and on the work plan proposed by those consultants.
- Assist in research, including surveys, of existing training materials and current levels of emergency responder preparedness.
- Evaluate training strategies and materials as the project consultants develop them.
- Assist NASFM and project consultants in the testing of all materials to include the design of testing methods, selection of pilot states, development of evaluation criteria, formation of on-site evaluation teams and evaluations.
- Recommend strategies to ensure widespread use of the materials developed under this program.
- Assist in NASFM briefings of industry, emergency responders and government officials with interest in hazardous materials safety.
- Through contacts with local emergency responders, the National Transportation Safety Board and industry, identify new accident scenarios should they occur and communicate these observations to the project.
- Produce an annual report to the NASFM Board of Directors and for public distribution that considers progress and areas in need of attention and makes special recognition of outstanding personal and organizational contributions to emergency responder hazardous materials safety.
Meetings
The Committee shall conduct at least one meeting every other quarter and all other meetings necessary to fulfill its accountabilities. Meetings shall be organized at the direction of the Chairman after consultation with members. Minutes of all meetings shall be produced and communicated to NASFM. At least 60 percent of appointed members must be present to achieve a quorum. The Chairman shall determine whether a quorum exists prior to the start of each meeting.
Background
In 2004 the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) developed a new training program on Pipeline Emergencies under a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). In 2005, the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI), under contract with NASFM, will be delivering a series of Train-The-Trainer courses throughout the U.S. to export the Pipeline Emergencies training program to the fire service. Pipelines are important to both our national economy and security. Approximately
327,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines, 1.8 million miles of natural gas distribution pipelines, and 161,000 miles of liquid pipelines safely transport natural gas and a range of liquid petroleum products daily within the U.S. Within the State of Maryland, there are hundreds of miles of liquid and gas transmission lines carrying hazardous materials including natural gas, LNG, and petroleum products. Despite the high costs of initially constructing pipelines, they are a safe and
relatively economical means of transportation. But like any industry that deals with hazardous materials, there are still risks in the transportation process. Although infrequent, when a pipeline accident does occur, the emergency response community must respond in a timely and effective manner to protect people and the environment.
