API standard 2350 5th edition – What’s new?

Midstream consultant Earl Crochet examines the changes in the latest edition of API 2350 Earl Crochet The American petroleum institute (API) publishes industry standards, recommended practices and other documents to help industry worldwide. Typically, these documents are updated every five to seven years by members of the industry including owners/operators, manufacturers, and contractors. One of these documents that was recently updated is API Standard 2350 – Overfill Prevention for Storage Tanks in Petroleum Facilities. Table 1 compares the last three editions of API 2350 and highlights a number of changes that have taken place over the last 15 years. LOTS OF ‘SHALL’ STATEMENTS The 5th Edition uses the word ‘shall’ 195 times in the body of the document. That means that if a regulatory agency adopts API 2350 as part of a law or if an owner/operator adopts API 2350 in their operating procedures, that is 195 items that must potentially be addressed in order to be in compliance with the document. For example, in the US, tanks involved in the transportation of hazardous liquids are regulated by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) under...