If the Texas Railroad Commission regulates you, you may need to comply with Rule 3.65, EOP.

(This article was written without AI tools, i.e., ChatGPT.)

If you are not regulated by the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), today’s article will not impact your operations. You get a pass this week.

If you are, you should be familiar with Rule 3.65 – Emergency Operation Plans (EOP). If you have not complied with its requirements, you must act fast, as the deadline was August 1, 2022. 99% of companies who were required to comply received a letter from the RRC noting the requirements. If you overlooked or misplaced the notice, you still have time to act (I have not seen any guidance on late submissions or extension guidelines, FYI).

If you are not sure if the requirements apply to you, read here to confirm applicability. RRC’s FAQ sheet can be found here.

What is required? Below is a clip from the letter the RRC sent out early last year.

Below is a baseline set of guidelines for preparing and submitting the EOP:

1.???An introduction section to include:

a.???A table of contents.

b.???The legal name of the company and the Commission issued Form P-5 number.

c.????System(s) Overview including general location and types of facilities.

d.???A summary describing how relevant personnel receive training on the applicable contents and execution of the EOP and an affirmation that relevant personnel have received such training.

e.???Individual(s) responsible for maintaining and implementing the EOP.

f.?????Individual(s) authorized to activate the EOP or section(s) of the EOP.

g.???Individual(s) authorized to revise the EOP; and

h.???Effective date; and

i.?????Record of distribution.

2.???A communication section to include:

a.???Internal Communication: A description of the methods and procedures for communicating within the company during an emergency. This should include primary and secondary means of communications as well as contact information for key employees.

b.???External Communication: A description of the methods and procedures during an emergency for communicating with the media, the Commission, and applicable local and state governmental entities, officials, state, and local emergency operations centers (EOCs), and critical customers, as appropriate in the circumstances for the operator.

3.???An emergency operations section to include:

a.???A Preparedness Section that may include but not limited to:

i.???A plan to maintain pre-identified supplies, parts, and equipment for emergency response.

ii.???A plan to function test existing equipment ahead of emergencies to verify functionalities.

iii.????A plan that addresses staffing during emergency response.

iv.????A plan that addresses how your company and facilities identify weather-related hazards, including tornadoes, hurricanes, extreme cold weather, extreme hot weather, rolling blackouts, drought, and flooding.

v.???Frequency and results of tabletop and/or simulated event exercises and/or tests performed; and

vi.????Issues identified and corrective actions taken as a result of the exercise and/or test.

b.???A Response Section that may include but not limited to:

i.???The process the company follows to activate the EOP; and

ii.????The response actions during an emergency once the EOP is activated such as personnel, transportation, communications procedures and the location, use, and maintenance of emergency supplies and equipment.

c.????A Restoration of Service Section that discusses procedures for return to service following disrupted operations.

d.???An Emergency Contact Annex that lists primary and backup emergency contacts for critical facilities (including identification of specific individuals wherever possible) who can address urgent requests for supplies, services, and other support to each facility.

Below are additional notes based on what we’ve seen from RRC plan reviews. The guidelines below mirror those noted above but highlight areas where we’ve seen companies receive findings for lack of detail. The main reason for these deficiencies is that people treat the requirements as more of a “complete to comply” exercise rather than a formal incident response plan, as seen in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90) world.

• Treat the EOP as a response plan like an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Facility Response Plan (FRP) or a detailed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Action Plan (EAP). You must build a formal cross-reference, include a table of contents, and develop defined sections with specific details, not overreaching statements like many put in C-level Emergency Response Plans (ERP).
• Build out a detailed corporate and field-level contact tree and contact tables.
• Identify in detail the legal owner, operator, and other entities associated with assets.
• List and identify every regulated asset. Maps or short one-page summary pages can do this.
• Develop how personnel are trained, how exercises are conducted, and how you ensure they are qualified.
• Note who owns the plan (group or name of a person), and note the responsibilities of those listed in the plan.
• Have a distribution list and detail how revisions are managed.
• Describe communication methods and their backup systems. This includes internal and external communications during an incident.
• Include a detailed list of relevant external contacts and their functions.
• Explain how company-owned equipment is tested and exercised for emergencies. Also, include a broad-based discussion of their maintenance programs.
• Provide details of the restoration of services post-incident. Think about what needs to be done to restore services.
• Include checklists or procedures to manage relevant incidents. Think of initial actions, terminating services, key things during an incident, and post-incident activities.

Remember that this is still a relatively new program for the RRC, so reviews have been somewhat inconsistent. Moreover, as few examples of approved templates are available, expect somewhat of a moving target until they become more commonplace.

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For a complete listing of archived articles and compliance insights, click here. Past articles cover training requirements, clarification of additional unclear elements within the above rules, and more.

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