Public Awareness and Regulatory Requirements

Safety and Response regulations are becoming further defined on a regular basis in an attempt to protect life, protect the environment, and protect property. This session will explore damage prevention public awareness programs that not only meet RP 1162 regulatory requirements, but do so in a cost effective manner. The programs include Emergency Response Liaison program customized for Emergency Responders, Excavation Awareness program customized for those that excavate on or around underground facility lines, and a first of its kind newly introduced Landowner/Farmer Education program customized for farmers and landowners that live and work in proximity to an underground pipeline.

In addition, the session will also address the various state and federal regulations that support the call before you dig message and the call before you dig process. The complete presentation is a must see for any regulatory compliance and pipeline safety person.

Finally, through the use of data layers in conjunction with Google Earth overlay, the affected stakeholder groups are mapped with an actual look of line to stakeholder location for quick response to an emergency and to identify a group for public awareness activity.

Speaker Biography

Mr. William E. Balin is the Vice President of The Pipeline Group, a position he has held since 2006. Previously, Mr. Balin was with a state one-call center since 1998 as the manager of marketing and education. Mr. Balin has written multiple articles on damage prevention and the one call process that have been published in multiple industry related publications over the last 5 years. In addition, Mr. Balin currently serves on several industry committees holding the following positions:

• One Call Systems International (OCSI) in which he served as chairman of the OCSI Education Committee from August 2003 to December 2007
• Common Grounds Alliance (CGA) as a one-call representative to the Educational/MMC Committee and the Pipeline Public Awareness Sub Committee
• Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA) in which he served as President from January 2002 through January 2004, and is currently the chapter’s delegate to the national association and board of directors member. Mr. Balin also serves as a member of the APWA Gas Industry (GIROW) national committee.
• Member of the Pennsylvania Energy Association

Return to Archive