{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 120131007","title":"EASTERN GAS TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE, INC. — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2013-04-15","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.616(a), 192.616(c).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120131007.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120131007.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120131007","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/120131007","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving EASTERN GAS TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE, INC.. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.616(a),  192.616(c). The case was opened on 2013-04-15 and is reported as closed as of 2014-05-08. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n120131007_Closure Letter_05082014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131007/120131007_Closure%20Letter_05082014.pdf\n\n120131007_Closure Letter_05082014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131007/120131007_Closure%20Letter_05082014_text.pdf\n\n120131007_Final Order_04042014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131007/120131007_Final%20Order_04042014.pdf\n\n120131007_Final Order_04042014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131007/120131007_Final%20Order_04042014_text.pdf\n\n120131007_NOPV PCO_04152013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131007/120131007_NOPV%20PCO_04152013.pdf\n\n120131007_NOPV PCO_04152013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131007/120131007_NOPV%20PCO_04152013_text.pdf\n\n120131007_Operator Response _05142013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131007/120131007_Operator%20Response%20_05142013.pdf\n\n120131007_Final Order_04042014_text.pdf\n\nAPRIL 4, 2014\nMr. Jeffrey L. Barger\nVice President / Pipeline Operations\nDominion Transmission, Inc.\n445 West Main Street\nClarksburg, WV 26302-2450\nRe: CPF No. 1-2013-1007\nDear Mr. Barger:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes findings of\nviolation and specifies actions that need to be taken by Dominion Transmission, Inc., to comply\nwith the pipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have been\ncompleted, as determined by the Director, Eastern Region, this enforcement action will be\nclosed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is deemed effective upon the date of mailing,\nor as otherwise provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nJeffrey D. Wiese\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Mr. Byron Coy, Director, Eastern Region, OPS\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\n\n\n\nU.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nPIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20590\n____________________________________\n)\nIn the Matter of )\n)\nDominion Transmission, Inc. ) CPF No. 1-2013-1007\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom November 30, to December 2, 2010, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety\n(OPS), conducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the records of Dominion Transmission,\nInc. (Dominion or Respondent) in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Dominion is an interstate gas\ntransmission company that produces and supplies NGL’s. Dominion maintains over 7,800 miles\nof pipeline in six states.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated April 15, 2013, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Compliance Order\n(Notice), which also included two warnings pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205. In accordance with\n49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that Dominion had violated 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.616(c) and proposed ordering Respondent to take certain measures to correct the alleged\nviolation. The warning items require no further action, but warn the operator to correct the\nprobable violation or face possible enforcement action.\nDominion responded to the Notice by letter dated May 14, 2013 (Response). The company\ncontested the allegation, offered additional information in response to the Notice, and requested\nthat the proposed compliance order be eliminated. Respondent did not request a hearing and\ntherefore has waived its right to one.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c), which states:\n1 See www.dom.com/business/gas-transmission/index.jtp., last viewed March 3, 2014.\n\n\n\n2\n§ 192.616 Public awareness.\n(a) …\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations,\nincluding baseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless\nthe operator provides justification in its program or procedural manual as\nto why compliance with all or certain provisions of the recommended\npractice is not practicable and not necessary for safety.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c) by failing to follow the\ngeneral program recommendations, including baseline and supplemental requirements of\nAmerican Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practice (RP) 1162. Specifically, the Notice\nalleged that Dominion failed to conduct an effectiveness evaluation within a four-year interval,\npursuant to Sections 8.4 and 8.5 of API RP 1162. Dominion initiated its baseline public\nawareness program on June 15, 2006. Therefore, its effectiveness evaluation should have been\nconducted on or before June 15, 2010.\nIn its Response, Dominion contested this allegation of violation. Respondent asserted that it\ncompleted the effectiveness evaluation in a timely manner. In support of its position, Dominion\nprovided documentation showing completion of the Pipeline Public Awareness Plan\nEffectiveness Surveys for 2006 and 2010, a copy of the July 2010 Pipeline Safety Awareness\nSurvey conducted by Market Strategies, International, and a December 9, 2010 e-mail that\nDominion claimed documents the review, recommendations and supplemental activities resulting\nfrom its December 3, 2010 Communications Team meeting. 2\nThe very information Dominion provided in support of its position establishes its failure to\ncomply with the regulations. The 2010 effectiveness survey was not completed until\nJuly 29, 2010.3 Additionally, the December 9, 2010 e-mail stated that “[o]n December 3rd, the\nCommunications Team completed Dominion Transmissions annual Pipeline Public Awareness\nPlan self-assessment.” (emphasis added).4 By its own submissions, Domionion’s evaluation of\nits Public Awareness Plan was not completed by June 15, 2010. Therefore, I find that Dominion\nviolated 49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c) by failing to follow the general program recommendations,\nincluding baseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 in the Notice for violation of\n49 C.F.R. §192.616(c). Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the\ntransportation of gas or who owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to comply with the\napplicable safety standards established under chapter 601. Pursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C.\n2 See Respondent’s Response to the Notice (Response) and its attached documents.\n3 See Respondent’s 2010 PPAP Survey Completion attached to its Response.\n4 See Respondent’s Email Notification attached to its Response.\n\n\n\n3\n§ 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the following actions to\nensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 192.616(c) (Item 1), if Respondent has\ncompleted an evaluation in accordance with Section 8.4 of API RP 1162 since\nJune 15, 2010, it must:\na. Submit the evaluation and a report that details how it plans or has\nimplemented improvements to its public awareness program for approval\nby the Director, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Final Order.\nb. Submit all related information and reports for this effort to Byron Coy, PE,\nDirector, Eastern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration, Suite 103, Bear Tavern Road, West Trenton, NJ 08628.\n2. With respect to the violation of § 192.616(c) (Item 1), if Respondent has not\ncompleted an evaluation in accordance with Section 8.4 of API RP 1162 that has\nbeen approved by the Regional Director, it must:\na. Conduct an evaluation in accordance with Section 8.4 of API RP 1162 and\nits applicable procedures within ninety (90) days of receipt of the Final\nOrder.\nb. Submit a report that details how it plans to implement improvements to its\npublic awareness program on the results of the evaluation or justify why\nimprovements are not practicable and not necessary for safety within 120\ndays of receipt of the Final Order.\nc. Submit all related information and reports for this effort to Byron Coy, PE,\nDirector, Eastern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration, Suite 103, Bear Tavern Road, West Trenton, NJ 08628\n3. It is requested (not mandated) that Dominion maintain documentation of the\nsafety improvement costs associated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and\nsubmit the total to Byron Coy, Director, Eastern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration, Suite 103, Bear Tavern Road, West Trenton, NJ\n08628.\nThe Director may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the required items upon a\nwritten request timely submitted by the Respondent and demonstrating good cause for an\nextension.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the administrative assessment of civil penalties\nnot to exceed $200,000 for each violation for each day the violation continues or in referral to the\nAttorney General for appropriate relief in a district court of the United States.\n\n\n\n4\nWARNING ITEMS\nWith respect to Items 2 and 3, the Notice alleged probable violations of Part 192 but did not\npropose a civil penalty or compliance order for these items. Therefore, these are considered to\nbe warning items. The warnings were for:\n49 C.F.R. § 192.616(a) (Item 2) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to follow the\nguidance in API RP 1162 Section 4.11 which states: “[w]here applicable and in\naccordance with the national Homeland Security efforts, pipeline operators should\ncommunicate an overview pertaining to security to their pipelines and related\nfacilities;” and\n49 C.F.R. § 192.616(a) (Item 3) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to follow the\nguidance in API RP 1162 Section 4.1, requiring operators to provide assurances\nthat security is considered.\nDominion presented information in its Response showing that it had taken certain actions to\naddress the cited items. If OPS finds a violation of any of these items in a subsequent inspection,\nRespondent may be subject to future enforcement action.\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.215, Respondent has a right to submit a Petition for Reconsideration of\nthis Final Order. The petition must be sent to: Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline\nSafety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC\n20590, with a copy sent to the Office of Chief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address. PHMSA\nwill accept petitions received no later than 20 days after receipt of service of this Final Order by\nthe Respondent, provided they contain a brief statement of the issue and meet all other\nrequirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.215. Unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a\nstay, the terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with\n49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nJeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n120131007_Closure Letter_05082014_text.pdf\n\nU.S. Department Of Transportation Pipeline and 609.989.2171\nHazardous Materials\nSafety Administration\n820 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 103\nWest Trenton, NJ 08628\nOVERNIGHT EXPRESS MAIL\nMay 8, 2014\nBrian Sheppard\nVice President, Pipeline Operations\nDominion Transmissions, Inc.\n445 West Main Street\nClarksburg, WV 26301\nCPF 1-2013-1007\nDear Mr. Sheppard:\nOn April 4, 2014 the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued to\nDominion Transmission, Inc. a Final Order in the above-referenced case. This Order included a\nCompliance Order. Based on our review of the documentation you provided on May 1, 2014, it has\nbeen determined that you have complied with the terms of this Order.\nAccordingly, this case is now closed and no further action is contemplated with respect to the\nmatters involved in this case. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nByron E. Coy, PE\nDirector, Eastern Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","truncated":false,"body_characters":12667}