Build your Pennsylvania manual around the records L&I requires. Cover yearly forms, forms for new installations, who may transfer gas and tank-owner permission. Show the adopted code editions. Give the office and field crew the same references.
Organize the annual permit file by physical address
L&I runs the LPG program through its Bureau of Occupational and Industrial Safety. Bulk plants, distributors and industrial users must register and renew. Register each cylinder exchange cabinet site on its own. Pair each address with its renewal file. Name who tracks it.
Apply each year under section 13.5. Include the fee and a valid liability-insurance certificate. Post the yearly permit at the covered site once issued. Check both copies. Does the posted permit match the office file?
Spell out what happens before an installation
Section 13.20 requires you to apply before certain work. It covers a tank over 2,000 water gallons. A fixed site over 4,000 combined water gallons also falls under it. It also covers dispensing stations and exchange cabinet sites. Plans need security measures and fire and vehicle protection. For each pressure vessel covered, include the maker's U1-A report or the state special number.
The Department must inspect covered applicants first. The first yearly permit cannot come before that step. Do not operate until that permit is issued. This covers the tank, site, dispenser or exchange cabinet. Check permit status before the new site starts work.
Match the training program to the work
LPG transfer staff need training approved by the Department. Sites must tell L&I about their program and changes. L&I accepts programs developed by PERC without separate program approval. Staff still need the training for their work.
Section 13.1 names NFPA 58–2008 and NFPA 54–2009. Chapter 13 has state adoption exceptions too. Record the edition and the state rule. The newest book alone is not the whole rule.
Put tank-owner permission in the service workflow
Section 13.8 limits who may transfer, sell, fill, deliver or use a container. Get the owner's permission. Get the required Department consent too. The rule also allows emergency-response authorization instead. Check tank ownership before booking the work. The section also requires removal within 30 days of property-owner notice.
Questions for the Pennsylvania office file
Can a new dispenser run while its first permit is pending? Section 13.20 bars that operation until the Department issues the yearly permit. Put the issued permit in the site file.
Does a PERC-developed program need separate approval? L&I accepts it without that program approval. Train the transfer staff and follow L&I's program-notice instructions.
Which vessel records go with the installation form? Each unfired pressure vessel covered by the rule needs its record. Use the maker's U1-A report or the state special number. Site plans and protection details are also needed.
What if the property owner asks us to remove a tank? Chapter 13 requires owners or distributors to remove it within 30 days of that notice. Assign someone to track the request and arrange qualified work.
Choose a manual that can use those records
Bring the permit and training files when discussing a manual. The national manual page covers the wider scope. Does your work meet the federal tests? If so, link the transport-security section to the state plan guide.
Bill Stomp built Propane Safety Pro. He is a war veteran who personally ran over 87 propane branch offices across 12 states, and he has helped more than 200 propane companies improve their profits, sales, safety and operations.
Propane Insider is published by the makers of Tank Spotter, Custom Fuel App, Blink Fuel, PIMS and Propane Safety Pro; some links go to advertisers.
General information, not legal advice.