(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.

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

(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 § 60.482-7b.

(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 § 60.482-7b but can again elect to use this section.

(5) The percent of valves leaking shall be determined as described in § 60.485b(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 § 60.482-7b(a)(2)(i) or (ii) before the provisions of this section can be applied to that valve.