1. Gas Piping Technology Committee
History
1970 – 2015
45th Anniversary
Philip Sher

2. Based on THE HISTORY OF THE GAS PIPING TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
Written by: Lowell Elder & John Frantz
Updated by Philip Sher

3. Pre-Historic
In the beginning …

4. Pre-Historic Boiler - Brockton MA, March 1905
R. B. Grover & Company Shoe Factory 58 deaths and 117 injuries

5. Pre-Historic Pipeline Safety Codes
1926 B31 Projected Initiated
1935 B31 American Tentative Standard for Pressure Piping
1952 B31.8 American Standard Code for Pressure Piping, Section 8, Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping Systems

6. Events That Led To The Federal Code
The First Trigger
March 4, 1965
Large and spectacular pipeline failure near Natchitoches, Louisiana
fatalities, property damage, and intense media coverage

7. Events That Led To The Federal Code
The First Trigger
January 10, 1967
President Lyndon Johnson's State Of The Union Address - need for gas pipeline safety regulations

8. Other Events That Led To The Federal Code
January 13, days later
Brooklyn, NY
14 buildings & 2 fire engines destroyed
“the City’s worst fire in a generation”

9. Events That Led To The Federal Code
The Second Trigger
1968
Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act

10. Events That Led To The Federal Code
The Third Trigger
Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act required Sec. of Transportation to adopt:
interim rules within three months - existing State standards where such standards existed – if not, the standards common to a majority of states
minimum federal standards within 24 months.

11. Interim Federal Code
Safety standard for gas pipelines and mains in the majority of the states
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Code for Pressure Piping Transmission and Distribution Piping Systems B31.8.
Thus, ANSI B31.8 essentially became the interim minimum safety standard.

12. OPS Director Jennings Philosophy of Pipeline Regulations
Regulations were to be written as performance requirements rather than detailed specifications to the maximum extent possible
Regulations will not contain any recommended practices or cautionary notes
If there is a need for OPS to publish advisory material, it would be published outside the regulations

13. B31.8 Safety Requirements and Regulations
Where did Part 192 come from?
B31.8

14. Where happened to the B31.8 Committee?
ASME Gas Piping Standards Committee

15. Gas Piping Standards Committee
ASME Gas Piping Standards Committee (GPSC) formed largely from B31.8 Committee
formative meeting Pittsburgh, summer of 1970

16. Gas Piping Standards Committee
Lowell L. Elder 1st GPSC Chairperson slid over from B31.8 Chair to be the initial chair of the Gas Piping Standards Committee

17. Gas Piping Standards Committee
1970
First Guide
Part 192 regulations in boldfaced print and then followed up by whatever applicable material was available from B31.8
We would add whatever new material could be generated in the short time frame available

18. Gas Piping Standards Committee
ASME Guide for Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping Systems was published on December 15, 1970
First edition of the Guide with GPSC guide material edition

19. Gas Piping Standards Committee
Liaison Task Group was established
Robert Dean
make contact with appropriate OPS staff people what was going on in gas piping that might bear on possible rule makings
Beginning with 1973 edition, Guide has included a letter of support for the committee's contributions to pipeline safety from the Office of Pipeline Safety

20. Gas Piping Technology Committee
Based on edits to the Guide by ASME committee secretary Philip Sher
Editorial TG formed - Ernie Warshafsky (chair) Clark Duncan, Leonard Orlando, Al Richardson and Phil Sher

21. Gas Piping Standards Committee
Lowell Elder was the Chairperson through the 70’s
Philip Lathrap became Chairperson 1980

22. Gas Piping Technology Committee
January 1984
ASME Board of Pressure Technology Codes and Standards established a policy
there would only be one official ASME position on material submitted to federal authorities on gas industry matters

23. Gas Piping Technology Committee
September 1987 the ASME Board
Combining GPTC and B31.8 committees under the B31 main committee
maintain B31.8
maintain the Guide
propose changes to Part 192 with the intent of making it consistent with the B31.8 code

24. Gas Piping Technology Committee
GPTC approved a motion to explore other sponsors for the committee
Bob Dean was appointed chairman of the task group on sponsorship transfer and Guide copyright
ASME to sell the copyright to the Guide for $34,000

25. Gas Piping Technology Committee
American Gas Association was approached
To insure its technically-oriented objectives and its membership (especially regulatory) intact, the committee needed to maintain a level of independence similar to other standards committees sponsored by AGA
An agreement was negotiated successfully with the AGA Managing Committee in 1989

26. ASME Gas Piping Technology Committee
October 1989 GPTC meeting
GPTC members accepted the conditions of sponsorship by AGA and approved the recommendation to ASME that the B31 committee disband the ASME Gas Piping Technology Committee

27. Gas Piping Technology Committee
1990 Vice-Chair John Frantz became 3rd Committee Chairperson

28. Gas Piping Technology Committee
1990 Executive Committee

29. ANSI
January 30, 1992
Gas Piping Technology Committee was approved as an Accredited Standards Committee and designated GPTC Z380
December 1992
edition of the Guide was approved as ANSI/GPTC Z380.1.

30. Gas Piping Technology Committee
December 2003
Transmission Integrity Management Program
Massive new GM developed to address these requirements

31. Gas Piping Technology Committee
2004
To address the need to publish timely guidance
Committee launched an initiative to streamline the process of acting on transactions

32. Gas Piping Technology Committee
GPTC actively involved in Distribution Integrity Management Program study
Phase One DIMP report issued December 2005
March 2006 OPS and NAPSR requested GPTC to develop distribution integrity management guidance

33. Gas Piping Technology Committee
July 2006 Marti Marek 4th GPTC Chairperson takes over from John Frantz

34. Gas Piping Technology Committee
40th Anniversary in St. Louis in July 2010
Executive Section

35. Gas Piping Technology Committee
Officers

36. Gas Piping Technology Committee
July DIMP Appendix published
Glen Armstrong Chair
2011
Phase I of Committee web sharing for improved Committee work processing
Phase II schedule for 2016

37. Gas Piping Technology Committee
May 2013
Sudden passing of Chairperson Marti Marek
November 2013
Letty Quezada elected as the 5th Gas Piping Technology Committee Chairperson

38. Gettysburg July 2013

39. Gas Piping Technology Committee
2015
GPTC changes the name of the Guide to include gathering systems
Guide for Gas Transmission, Distribution, and Gathering Piping Systems

40. Gas Piping Technology Committee
Future
still holds new challenges for the Committee
With its dedicated members, the Gas Piping Technology Committee will continue to prove to be equal to those challenges and continue to prosper

41. and

42. now

43. we’ve

44. reached

45. Gas Piping Technology Committee
Happy
45th
Anniversary