{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 120131022","title":"TEXAS EASTERN TRANSMISSION, LP (SPECTRA ENERGY PARTNERS, LP) — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2013-11-07","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-120131022.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120131022.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-120131022","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/120131022","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving TEXAS EASTERN TRANSMISSION, LP (SPECTRA ENERGY PARTNERS, LP). PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.616(a),  192.616(c). The case was opened on 2013-11-07 and is reported as closed as of 2015-04-15. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n120131022_Closure Letter_04152015.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_Closure%20Letter_04152015.pdf\n\n120131022_Closure Letter_04152015_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_Closure%20Letter_04152015_text.pdf\n\n120131022_Final Order_12122014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_Final%20Order_12122014.pdf\n\n120131022_Final Order_12122014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_Final%20Order_12122014_text.pdf\n\n120131022_NOPV PCO_11072013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_NOPV%20PCO_11072013.pdf\n\n120131022_NOPV PCO_11072013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_NOPV%20PCO_11072013_text.pdf\n\n120131022_Operator Response_01172014 (2).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_Operator%20Response_01172014%20(2).pdf\n\n120131022_Operator Response_01172014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/120131022/120131022_Operator%20Response_01172014.pdf\n\n120131022_Final Order_12122014_text.pdf\n\nDECEMBER 12, 2014\nMr. Gregory L. Ebel\nPresident & CEO\nSpectra Energy Corp\n5400 Westheimer Court\nHouston, TX 77056-5310\nRe: CPF No. 1-2013-1022\nDear Mr. Ebel:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of\nviolation and specifies actions that need to be taken by Spectra Energy Corp to comply with the\npipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have been completed, as\ndetermined by the Director, Eastern Region, this enforcement action will be closed. Service of\nthe Final Order by certified mail is deemed effective upon the date of mailing, or as otherwise\nprovided 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, Region Director, Eastern Region, OPS\nMr. J. A. (Andy) Drake, P.E., Vice President, Operations and EHS, Spectra Corp\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nEnergy\n\n\n\nU.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nPIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20590\n____________________________________\nIn the Matter of )\nTexas Eastern Transmission, LP, ) CPF No. 1-2013-1022\na subsidiary of Spectra Energy Corp, )\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nOn May 10-12, 2011, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS),\nconducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the records of Texas Eastern Transmission, LP,\na subsidiary of Spectra Energy Corp, (Respondent or Spectra), in Houston, Texas.1 Spectra\nEnergy Corp is a Fortune 500 company that operates approximately 22,000 miles of natural gas,\nnatural gas liquids, and crude-oil pipelines.2\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated November 7, 2013, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Compliance\nOrder (Notice), which also included a warning pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205. In accordance\nwith 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that Respondent had violated 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.616(c) and ordering Respondent to take certain measures to correct the alleged violation.\nThe warning items required no further action but warned the operator to correct the probable\nviolations or face possible enforcement action.\nAfter receiving an extension of time to respond, Spectra formally responded to the Notice by\nletter dated January 17, 2014 (Response). The company did not contest the allegation of\nviolation, but provided explanations for the issues raised in the Notice. Respondent did not\nrequest a hearing and therefore has waived its right to one.\n1 Texas Eastern Transmission, LP, is a subsidiary of Spectra Energy Corp. See Spectra Energy Partners, LP, Annual\nReport (Form 10-K), at 92 (Feb. 28, 2014), see also Spectra Energy Corp, Annual Report (Form 10-K), at 6 (Feb.\n28, 2014).\n2 Spectra Energy Corp website, available at http://www.spectraenergy.com/About-Us/At-a-Glance/ (last accessed on\nOctober 24, 2014).\n\n\n\nCPF No.: 1-2013-1022\nPage 2\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, Spectra did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated 49 C.F.R. Part\n192, as follows:\nItem 5: The Notice alleged that Spectra violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c), which states:\n§ 192.616 Public awareness.\n(a) . . . [E]ach pipeline operator must develop and implement a written\ncontinuing public education program that follows the guidance provided in\nthe American Petroleum Institute's (API) Recommended Practice (RP) 1162\n(incorporated by reference, see § 192.7) . . . .\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 to\nwhy compliance with all or certain provisions of the recommended practice\nis not practicable and not necessary for safety.\nThe Notice alleged that Spectra violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c) by failing to follow the general\nprogram recommendations, including baseline and supplemental requirements, of API RP 1162,\nSection 8.4. Specifically, the Notice alleged that Spectra did not perform an effectiveness\nevaluation of its public awareness program. API RP 1162, Section 8.4, lists four assessable\nmeasures used to determine if implementation of a public awareness program is effectively\nreaching stakeholder groups.3 The Notice alleged Spectra did not provide documentation or\nrecords showing it had evaluated whether implementation of its public awareness program was\neffectively reaching each individual stakeholder group.\nIn its Response, Spectra stated that its plan evaluation did address the effectiveness of its public\nawareness program but that it was not contesting the allegation of violation. The company\nfurther stated that it would revise its External Communication Plan to survey each stakeholder\ngroup and to specify the acceptable methodologies for conducting surveys.\nAccordingly, based upon a review of all of the evidence, I find that Spectra violated 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.616(c) by failing to follow the general program recommendations, including baseline and\nsupplemental requirements, of API RP 1162, Section 8.4.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\nbrought against Spectra.\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 5 in the Notice for violations of\n3 API RP 1162, Section 3, lists four stakeholder audiences to whom the public education program is directed: (1)\naffected public; (2) emergency officials; (3) local public officials; and (4) excavators.\n\n\n\nCPF No.: 1-2013-1022\nPage 3\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.\n§ 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Spectra is ordered to take the following actions to ensure\ncompliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 192.616(c) (Item 5), Spectra must:\na. Conduct an evaluation in accordance with API RP 1162, Section 8.4, and its\napplicable procedures within 90 days of receipt of the Final Order.4\nb. Submit a report that details how it plans to implement improvements, if\nnecessary, to its public awareness program based on the results of the\nevaluation or justify why improvements are not practicable and not necessary\nfor safety within 150 days of the Final Order.5\nc. Submit all related information and reports for this effort to the Director,\nEastern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 820\nBear Tavern Road, Suite 103, West Trenton, NJ 08628.\nThe Director may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the required items upon a\nwritten request timely submitted by Spectra and demonstrating good cause for an extension.\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.\nWARNING ITEMS\nWith respect to Items 1 through 4, 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 1) ─ Spectra’s alleged failure to implement its\nwritten continuing public education program, External Communication Plan,\nAppendix A. Program Evaluation Methods/Survey, by failing to conduct its\nsurveys as outlined in its written plan.\n4 The Proposed Compliance Order included with the Notice erroneously stated a period of “sixty days” to comply\nwith this item.\n5 The Proposed Compliance Order included with the Notice erroneously stated a period of “one hundred twenty\ndays” to comply with this item.\n\n\n\nCPF No.: 1-2013-1022\nPage 4\n49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c) (Item 2) ─ Spectra’s alleged failure to follow the\nguidance of API RP 1162, Section 4.4,6 by failing to provide local public officials\nwith emergency preparedness information and failing to indicate that detailed\ninformation had been provided to emergency response agencies in their respective\njurisdictions.\n49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c) (Item 3) ─ Spectra’s alleged failure to provide\ninformation to emergency responders about how to access Spectra’s emergency\nresponse plan, pursuant to API RP 1662, Section 4.4.3.\n49 C.F.R. § 192.616(c) (Item 4) ─ Spectra’s alleged failure to provide\ninformation about High Consequence Areas and Integrity Management Plans to\nnecessary stakeholders, pursuant to API RP 1662, Section 4.7.\nSpectra presented information in its Response showing that it will take certain actions to\naddress the cited items. If OPS finds a violation of any of these items in a subsequent\ninspection, Spectra may be subject to future enforcement action.\nThe 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\n6 API RP Section 4.4 states, “Operators should provide a summary of emergency preparedness information to local\npublic officials and should indicate that detailed information has been provided to emergency response agencies in\ntheir jurisdictions.\"\n\n120131022_Closure Letter_04152015_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\nApril 15, 2015\nJ. A. (Andy) Drake\nVice President, Operations & EHS\nTexas Eastern Transmission LP (Spectra Energy Corp)\n5400 Westheimer Court\nHouston, TX 77056\nCPF 1-2013-1022\nDear Mr. Drake:\nOn December 12, 2014, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of\nPipeline Safety, issued to Spectra Energy Corp1 (SEP), the parent company of Texas Eastern\nTransmission LP, a Final Order in the above-referenced case. This Order included a Compliance\nOrder.\nBased on our review of the documentation submitted by SEP on March 12, 2015, it has been\ndetermined 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 Coy, PE\nDirector, Eastern Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n1 In November 2013, Spectra Energy Partners, LP (SEP) acquired ownership interest in Spectra Energy’s remaining\nU.S. transmission, storage and liquids assets which included Texas Eastern Transmission, LP. See Spectra Energy\nPartners, LP’s Annual Report (Form 10-K) (Feb. 28, 2014) and Spectra Energy’s Annual Report (Form 10-K) (Feb.\n28, 2014).","truncated":false,"body_characters":12764}