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Fact Sheet: High

Consequence Areas (HCA)
Quick Facts:
Consequences of inadvertent releases from pipelines can vary
greatly, depending on where the release occurs, and the commodity
involved in the release.
Releases from pipelines can adversely affect human health and
safety, cause environmental degradation, and damage personal or
commercial property.
Pipeline safety regulations use the concept of High Consequence
Areas (HCAs), to identify specific locales and areas where a
release could have the most significant adverse consequences. Once
identified, operators are required to devote additional focus, efforts,
and analysis in HCAs to ensure the integrity of pipelines.
What criteria define HCAs for pipelines?
Because potential consequences of natural gas and hazardous liquid
pipeline releases differ, criteria for HCAs also differ. HCAs for natural
gas transmission pipelines focus solely on populated areas.
(Environmental and ecological consequences are usually minimal for
releases involving natural gas.) Identification of HCAs for hazardous
liquid pipelines focus on populated areas, drinking water sources, and
unusually sensitive ecological resources.
Populated areas include both high population areas (called
urbanized areas by the U.S. Census Bureau) and other populated
areas (areas referred to by the Census Bureau as a designated
place).
Drinking water sources include those supplied by surface water or
wells and where a secondary source of water supply is not
available. The land area in which spilled hazardous liquid could
affect the water supply is also treated as an HCA.
Unusually sensitive ecological areas include locations where
critically imperiled species can be found, areas where multiple
examples of federally listed threatened and endangered species are
found, and areas where migratory waterbirds concentrate.
HCAs for natural gas transmission pipelines:
An equation has been developed based on research and experience
that estimates the distance from a potential explosion at which
death, injury or significant property damage could occur. This
distance is known as the potential impact radius (or PIR), and is
used to depict potential impact circles.
Operators must calculate the potential impact radius for all points
along their pipelines and evaluate corresponding impact circles to
identify what population is contained within each circle.

Potential impact circles that contain 20 or more structures intended

for human occupancy;, buildings housing populations of limited
mobility; buildings that would be hard to evacuate (e.g., nursing
homes, schools); or buildings and outside areas occupied by more
than 20 persons on a specified minimum number of days each year,
are defined as HCAs.

How do operators of pipelines know where HCAs are located?

High population areas and other populated areas are identified using
maps and data from the U.S. Census bureau.
Critical drinking water sources and unusually sensitive ecological
areas are identified using information from National Heritage
Programs and Conservation Data Centers in each state, in
conjunction with The Nature Conservancy.
Because of the complexity of HCAs for Hazardous Liquid Pipelines,
the Office of Pipeline Safety identifies and maps HCAs for Hazardous
Liquids on its National Pipeline Mapping System ( NPMS). These
maps are revised periodically by OPS based on new and updated
information.
Operators of natural gas transmission pipelines must use a specified
equation to calculate the radius of potential impact circles along
their pipeline and compare the structures in those circles to the HCA
criteria in the rule.
How do operators determine what pipeline segments require
extra integrity protection due to the presence of HCAs?
Pipeline operators must determine which segments of their pipeline
could affect HCAs in the event of a release. This determination must
be made assuming that a release can occur at any point, even
though the likelihood of a release at any given point is very small.
Hazardous liquid pipelines that pass through an HCA, or that pass
near enough that a release could reach the area by flow over land
or within a river, stream, lake, or other means, are assumed to
have the potential to affect that area.
Gas transmission pipelines that pass within any of the HCA potential
impact circles are assumed to have the potential to affect that area.
(Or, alternatively, operators may choose to treat all of their pipeline
segments in Class 3 and 4 areas as HCAs.)
Date of Revision: 12012011