DO: Program Supplements
As noted in Section 7.3.1 of the Third Edition, program supplements can help operators achieve their program objectives. That may be through a decision to communicate baseline messages more frequently or more broadly than required in the baseline program, or perhaps through consideration of alternative communication strategies, tactics, or activities to gain additional insights about your stakeholder audiences.
Operators are required to determine if supplements are necessary to support their baseline public awareness program.
Do you have a process in your program to consider relevant factors along your pipeline system that may indicate whether program supplements are beneficial? That process may look very different if your public awareness program is managed through a regulatory or compliance lens, an operations lens, or a communication or engagement lens.
As provided on pages 26 and 27 of the Third Edition, examples of factors or events an operator may want to consider can include the following:
- Requests by emergency officials to provide additional communications,
- Recent pipeline emergencies in the area, independent of cause or operator,
- After post-emergency review or when there is potential for enhanced “liaison activities” between an operator and emergency officials that could have improved the emergency response to a pipeline emergency,
- HCAs,
- Population density,
- Land development activity,
- Agricultural activity,
- Third-party damage Incidents,
- Environmental considerations,
- Specific local situations (e.g., stakeholder interest),
- Regulatory actions,
- Results from previous public awareness program evaluations.