FERC Issues Final HDD Monitoring, IR Response Guidance
HOUSTON (UC) — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released guidance by the Environment staff of its Office of Energy Projects to help industry professionals improve the quality and consistency of their HDD plans.

The guide, titled "Horizontal Directional Drill Monitoring, Inadvertent Return Response, and Contingency Plans," is available for download from the FERC website.
The final guidance, which addresses industry feedback FERC received to its earlier draft, is intended to describe the technical components of an HDD Plan, including drilling fluid composition and management, monitoring procedures, and response procedures for an inadvertent return of drilling fluid to the ground surface (IR).
FERC staff also identify and discuss information that is not specifically required by regulation, but is often considered during staff’s environmental review.
The document includes an outline for preparation of an HDD plan in a format FERC says is not mandatory, but which has been effective in past presentations to the commission. It also provides a details on drilling fluid management, documentation requirements and a checklist of procedures and materials needed for effective response to IRs.
By providing the guidance to industry professionals, FERC said, it hopes to also, "as a result, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the commission's environmental review and reduce the need for supplemental data requests."
Related News
- Trans Mountain faces new delays, technical challenges in Mountain 3 HDD pipeline pullback
- UTSA researches how horizontal directional drilling is evolving in utility construction industry
- Jacobs completes underground infrastructure engineering for first full-scale wave energy testing facility in U.S.
From Archive

- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- NTSB publishes preliminary report on fatal gas pipeline explosion in Lexington, Mo.
- 290-mile gas pipeline expansion proposed across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina
- Centuri awarded nearly $400 million for U.S. gas infrastructure work
- Ripple Fiber breaks ground on $140 million project, expanding into central Mass.
- Growing Pains and Gains
- Maryland lawmakers push to curb BGE pipeline spending, citing safety and cost concerns
- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish
Comments