scope:

The purpose of this recommended practice is to provide guidance for developing and maintaining a compliant Operator Qualification (OQ) program. Operators may choose to use all, part or none of this document. Additionally, many components of this recommended practice also apply to Gas Transmission Lines regulated under 49 CFR 192. Therefore, Operators may choose to utilize the recommended practice as applicable for these lines.

Operators should be aware that the OQ regulation is applicable only to United States Department of Transportation (DOT) jurisdictional pipelines. For purposes of this document, the word "pipeline" is used interchangeably with pipeline, pipeline facility and pipeline system and any and all jurisdictional pipeline components as defined in 49 CFR Part 195.

This document is written to provide guidance for achieving compliance with the regulation at the time of publication and is comprised of three individual components: the Guidance Document, the API Covered Task List (Annex A), and the Covered Task Standards (Annex B). A separate publication, the API Covered Task Standards, will contain guidance on the individual Covered Tasks. This guidance will include knowledge and skill components, span of control and abnormal operating conditions.