(a)(1) An owner or operator may elect to comply with one of the alternative work practices specified in paragraphs (b)(2) and (3) of this section.

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(2) An owner or operator must notify the Administrator before implementing one of the alternative work practices, as specified in § 60.487(d)a.

(b)(1) An owner or operator shall comply initially with the requirements for valves in gas/vapor service and valves in light liquid service, as described in § 60.482-7a.

(2) After 2 consecutive quarterly leak detection periods with the percent of valves leaking equal to or less than 2.0, an owner or operator may begin to skip 1 of the quarterly leak detection periods for the valves in gas/vapor and light liquid service.

(3) After 5 consecutive quarterly leak detection periods with the percent of valves leaking equal to or less than 2.0, an owner or operator may begin to skip 3 of the quarterly leak detection periods for the valves in gas/vapor and light liquid service.

(4) If the percent of valves leaking is greater than 2.0, the owner or operator shall comply with the requirements as described in § 60.482-7a but can again elect to use this section.

(5) The percent of valves leaking shall be determined as described in § 60.485a(h).

(6) An owner or operator must keep a record of the percent of valves found leaking during each leak detection period.

(7) A valve that begins operation in gas/vapor service or light liquid service after the initial startup date for a process unit following one of the alternative standards in this section must be monitored in accordance with § 60.482-7a(a)(2)(i) or (ii) before the provisions of this section can be applied to that valve.