DO: Sharing Information
Historically, many operators have been cautious about sharing project or operational details with stakeholders – often due to concerns about the potential misuse of information. While these concerns may be legitimate, it’s equally important to acknowledge stakeholders’ concerns and their requests for information to help address their needs.
The decision to share information is key—an essential step—in an operator’s effective and equitable engagement program.
Why should operators share information despite concerns about how it may be used? To help those stakeholders learn and engage in an informed manner.
Why should stakeholders continue to request information from pipeline operators? To help those operators learn and engage in an informed manner.
Information requests, and the operator’s process for receiving and managing inquiries, will likely result in a back-and-forth engagement opportunity that helps all parties learn and become more effective in their engagement.
Examples of information that operators will usually have on hand, or that may already be available through their Public Awareness Program or other operator initiatives, and can help stakeholders establish a baseline of knowledge include:
- Facts about the pipeline or pipeline system (e.g., ownership, mileage, commodity types or products transported, pipe diameter, incident history).
- Description of work being or to be conducted (e.g., surveying, trenching, mowing, integrity inspection, installing a cathodic protection test station).
- When and where maintenance work will be conducted and estimated duration of work.
- Route alternatives that have been or are being considered.
- Basic description of a proposed pipeline or expansion project and how to get more information and become engaged.
- Description of how to engage with local, state, and federal permitting agencies.
- Short-and long-term impacts and how they can be mitigated.
- Expected benefits from an operator’s project work and/or operation (e.g., pipeline improvements to lessen environmental risk, facility improvements to improve air quality, noise, or traffic safety, economic development benefits).
Information should be provided with a sense of urgency and in a manner that will increase trust in the information provided and the relationship between operator and stakeholder(s). In a proposed pipeline or expansion project, for example, information should be shared as early in the development process as possible. In return, the operator may receive feedback to inform routing or other decisions to avoid costly changes later in the process.
It must be noted that there will be information that an operator cannot share, whether for legal, regulatory, or security reasons, or if the requested information is classified as business confidential (see RP 1185 for detailed guidance). If such a restriction is in place and covered information is requested, this should be explained to stakeholders along with details on what information cannot be disclosed.
Figure 4, Pipeline Information Sharing Process, in RP 1185 illustrates a process to engage in conversation with a stakeholder to clearly understand their information request, determine what information can (or can’t) be shared, and respond to the stakeholder.