AEP Regulatory Compliance & Safety 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A FERC Order 693 violation related to transmission planning would primarily be reported to which entity?
- OSHA Regional Office
- NERC and the relevant Regional Entity (Correct answer)
- EPA Region
- State PUC only
Correct answer: NERC and the relevant Regional Entity
NERC and the applicable Regional Entity (e.g., RFC, SERC) receive and adjudicate reliability standard violation reports under FERC Order 693 authority.
Question 2: What does the NFPA 70E standard define as an 'arc flash boundary'?
- The distance at which a worker must wear a hard hat
- The distance at which incident energy equals 1.2 cal/cm², potentially causing a second-degree burn (Correct answer)
- The boundary around high-voltage substations requiring badge access
- The distance from a transformer where RF emissions are regulated
Correct answer: The distance at which incident energy equals 1.2 cal/cm², potentially causing a second-degree burn
The arc flash boundary under NFPA 70E is the distance at which incident energy equals 1.2 cal/cm², the threshold for a curable second-degree burn.
Question 3: Under DOT regulations, AEP must file a 30-minute notification to the National Response Center for which type of incident?
- Any vehicle accident involving a company truck
- A release of hazardous material in transport that causes injury or evacuation (Correct answer)
- A near-miss incident at a substation
- Any OSHA recordable injury
Correct answer: A release of hazardous material in transport that causes injury or evacuation
DOT requires immediate (30-minute) NRC notification when a hazmat transportation incident results in death, serious injury, or evacuation of the general public.
Question 4: Which AEP safety protocol requires a documented Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) before starting a non-routine task?
- Work Authorization Permit only for confined spaces
- Pre-job planning process for all non-routine or high-risk tasks (Correct answer)
- Post-incident review process
- Annual safety audit requirement
Correct answer: Pre-job planning process for all non-routine or high-risk tasks
AEP's pre-job planning process mandates a documented JHA (or equivalent hazard analysis) for non-routine, complex, or high-risk tasks to identify and mitigate hazards before work begins.
Question 5: What is NERC's CIP-006 standard focused on in protecting bulk electric systems?
- Cybersecurity incident response plans
- Physical security of BES cyber systems (Correct answer)
- Recovery plans for BES cyber systems
- Configuration change management
Correct answer: Physical security of BES cyber systems
CIP-006 establishes requirements for physical security plans and access controls to protect BES cyber systems from unauthorized physical access.
Question 6: Under OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) standard, which chemical quantity threshold triggers PSM applicability at a power plant?
- Any amount of a listed highly hazardous chemical
- Threshold quantities (TQ) specified in Appendix A of 29 CFR 1910.119 (Correct answer)
- 10 pounds of any flammable gas
- 500 gallons of any liquid chemical
Correct answer: Threshold quantities (TQ) specified in Appendix A of 29 CFR 1910.119
PSM applicability is triggered when a covered process contains a listed highly hazardous chemical at or above the threshold quantity in 29 CFR 1910.119 Appendix A.
Question 7: AEP's transmission system must comply with NERC TPL standards, which govern what aspect of grid operations?
- Electricity pricing and tariffs
- Transmission planning and system performance under contingency conditions (Correct answer)
- Customer service response times
- Fuel procurement procedures
Correct answer: Transmission planning and system performance under contingency conditions
NERC TPL (Transmission Planning) standards require utilities like AEP to assess and plan transmission systems to maintain performance under defined contingency events.
AEP Regulatory Compliance & Safety 3
A FERC Order 693 violation related to transmission planning would primarily be reported to which entity?