{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 12023027NOPV","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":"2023-06-01","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.631(j)(1).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-12023027nopv.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-12023027nopv.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-12023027nopv","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/12023027NOPV","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving EASTERN GAS TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE, INC.. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.631(j)(1). The case was opened on 2023-06-01 and is reported as closed as of 2024-04-24. Proposed civil penalty: $26,000. Assessed civil penalty: $26,000. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n12023027NOPV_Final Order_04052024_(21-199435).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_Final%20Order_04052024_(21-199435).pdf\n\n12023027NOPV_Final Order_04052024_(21-199435)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_Final%20Order_04052024_(21-199435)_text.pdf\n\n12023027NOPV_Operator Response to Notice (REDACTED) _06282023_(21-199435).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice%20(REDACTED)%20_06282023_(21-199435).pdf\n\n12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435).pdf\n\n12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435)_text.pdf\n\n12023027NOPV_Final Order_04052024_(21-199435)_text.pdf\n\nApril 5, 2024\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: paul.ruppert@bhegts.com\nPaul Ruppert\nPresident, Gas Transmission and Storage\nEastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc.\n6603 West Broad Street\nRichmond, Virginia 23200\nRe: CPF No. 1-2023-027-NOPV\nDear Mr. Ruppert:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of\nviolation and assesses a civil penalty of $26,000. The penalty payment terms are set forth in the\nFinal Order. This enforcement action closes automatically upon receipt of payment. Service of\nthe Final Order by e-mail is effective upon the date of transmission and acknowledgement of\nreceipt as provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Mr. Robert Burrough, Director, Eastern Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nMr. Matt Lamb, Vice President, Eastern Pipeline Operations, Eastern Gas\nTransmission and Storage, Inc., matt.lamb@bhegts.com\nMr. Dan Stahl, Pipeline Integrity Engineer, Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc.,\ndaniel.stahl@bhegts.com\nCONFIRMATION OF 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)\nEastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc., ) CPF No. 1-2023-027-NOPV\n)\nRespondent. )\n________________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom November 15, 2021, to November 19, 2021, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117,\nrepresentatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office\nof Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and\nrecords of Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc.’s (EGTS or Respondent) procedures and\nrecords for control room management of its control room in Bridgeport, West Virginia. EGTS\nprimarily provides natural gas transmission and natural gas underground storage services with\nlinks to markets in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated June 1, 2023, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty (Notice).\nIn accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that EGTS had violated 49\nC.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $26,000 for the alleged\nviolation. The Notice also included an additional warning item pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205,\nwhich warned the operator to correct the probable violation or face possible future enforcement\naction.\nEGTS responded to the Notice by letter dated June 28, 2023 (Response). In its Response,\nRespondent contested the alleged violation, provided additional information in response to the\nNotice, and requested a withdrawal of the proposed civil penalty. Respondent did not request a\nhearing and therefore has waived its right to one.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\n1 Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc. website, available at https://www.bhegts.com/our-businesses/EGTS\n(last accessed March 8, 2024).\n\n\n\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1), which states:\n§ 192.631(j)(1) Control room management.\n(a) ….\n(j) Compliance and deviations. An operator must maintain for review\nduring inspection:\n(1) Records that demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this\nsection; and\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) by failing to maintain\nrecords that demonstrate compliance with § 192.631(h).2 Specifically, the Notice alleged that\nEGTS failed to maintain documentation of a training program for training each controller to\ncarry out their defined roles and responsibilities. The Notice also alleged that during the\ninspection EGTS was unable to provide any record of training its controllers to carry out their\nroles and responsibilities. Additionally, the Notice alleged that EGTS provided no records to\ndemonstrate how controllers are operator qualified for the covered tasks associated with being a\ncontroller.\nIn its Response, Respondent argued that a Controller Training Program existed when PHMSA’s\ninspection took place between November 15 and 19, 2021, and that the program required its\ncontrollers to be operator qualified for covered tasks designated by EGTS.\n3 Respondent argued\nthat PHMSA reviewed the existing Controller Training Program during the inspection and was\nprovided a copy of the program on November 19, 2021. EGTS stated that the existing Controller\nTraining Program provided for the completion of an online course, test, and performance\nevaluation for covered task L04.1371 and completion of an online course and test for covered\ntask M11.5751. EGTS contended that PHMSA received and reviewed the training records for a\nselect sample of its controllers, which documented successful completion of the designated\ncovered tasks L04.1371 and M11.5751. EGTS argued that the aforementioned training records\nfor a select sample of its controllers sufficiently demonstrated how controllers are operator\nqualified for the covered task associated with being a controller. Additionally, in its Response,\nEGTS provided additional information demonstrating that it updated its Controller Training\nProgram for the purpose of process improvement following receipt of the Post-inspection\nWritten Preliminary Findings from PHMSA.\nSection 192.631(j)(1) requires operators to maintain for review during an inspection records that\ndemonstrate compliance with the requirements of § 192.631, including the requirements at\n§ 192.631(h). Section 192.631(h) requires, among other things, operators to establish a\ncontroller training program and to train each controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities\ndefined by the operator. The Notice made three allegations: first, that Respondent failed to\nmaintain documentation of a training program; second, that it failed to provide any record of\ntraining its controllers; and third, that Respondent did not provide records to demonstrate how\n2 Section 192.631(h) requires an operator to establish a controller training program that “must provide for training\neach controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities defined by the operator.”\n3 The covered tasks EGTS noted include L04.1371 Operate Gas Pipeline – System Control Center Operations, and\nM11.5751 Recognize and React to Generic Abnormal Operating Conditions [hereinafter “L04.1371” and\n“M11.5751”].\n\n\n\ncontrollers are operator qualified.\nWith regard to the first allegation that Respondent failed to maintain documentation of a training\nprogram, the record shows that Respondent provided a copy of its controller training program to\nPHMSA during the inspection. In the Region Director’s written evaluation of Respondent’s\nresponse material made pursuant to § 190.207(b)(7), the Region Director did not dispute that a\ncopy of the controller training program was provided. Accordingly, contrary to the first\nallegation, the record in this case demonstrates Respondent did have documentation of a training\nprogram and provided that documentation to PHMSA during the inspection. Therefore, this\nallegation is withdrawn.\nWith regard to the second allegation that Respondent failed to provide any record of training its\ncontrollers, the record shows that during the inspection, Respondent did not provide training\nrecords associated with all controllers. Furthermore, in its Response to the allegation in the\nNotice that Respondent did not provide training records documenting training each controller to\ncarry out defined roles and responsibilities, Respondent did not produce any additional records\ndemonstrating the training of each controller. Because Respondent did not maintain, and\nproduce for review, records that demonstrate each controller had been trained, I find Respondent\ndid not comply with § 192.631(j)(1).\nFinally, with regard to the allegation that Respondent did not provide records to demonstrate\nhow controllers are operator qualified, I note that while the controller training program\nestablished by 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(h) ensures controllers are properly trained, operators must\nalso comply with additional operator qualification (OQ) requirements contained in 49 CFR Part\n192, Subpart N. Specifically, 49 C.F.R. § 192.801 prescribes the minimum OQ requirements for\nindividuals, including controllers, who perform covered tasks on a pipeline facility. Operators\nare also required to maintain OQ records pursuant to § 192.807. The Notice did not allege a\nviolation of the OQ requirements in Subpart N. Furthermore, Respondent provided additional\ninformation in its Response that it had designated two covered tasks associated with being a\ncontroller in its training program under 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(h). Respondent stated that the\ncovered task associated with control center operations (L04.1371) required the successful\ncompletion of an online course, test, and performance evaluation, while the covered task\nassociated with recognizing and reacting to generic abnormal operating conditions (M11.5751)\nrequired the successful completion of an online course and test. Based on the Notice’s failure to\nallege a violation of 49 CFR Part 192, Subpart N, and the additional information provided by\nRespondent, I find that a finding of violation on such a basis is not warranted. Accordingly, this\nallegation in withdrawn.\nIn conclusion, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.631(j)(1) by failing to maintain and produce records that demonstrate the training of each\ncontroller to carry out the roles and responsibilities defined by the operator. The additional\nallegations that Respondent failed to maintain documentation of a training program and failed to\ndemonstrate how controllers are operator qualified are withdrawn.\n\n\n\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.223, Respondent is subject to an administrative\ncivil penalty not to exceed $257,664 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum\nof $2,576,627 for any related series of violations.4\nIn determining the amount of a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225, I\nmust consider the following criteria: the nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation,\nincluding adverse impact on the environment; the degree of Respondent’s culpability; the history\nof Respondent’s prior offenses; any effect that the penalty may have on its ability to continue\ndoing business; the good faith of Respondent in attempting to comply with the pipeline safety\nregulations; and self-disclosure or actions to correct a violation prior to discovery by PHMSA.\nIn addition, I may consider the economic benefit gained from the violation without any reduction\nbecause of subsequent damages, and such other matters as justice may require. The Notice\nproposed a total civil penalty of $26,000 for the violation cited above.\nItem 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $26,000 for Respondent’s alleged violation of 49\nC.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) for failing to maintain records that demonstrate compliance with\n§ 192.631(h). In its Response, Respondent did not separately address the proposed civil penalty\namount or present any evidence or argument that warrants reducing or eliminating the proposed\npenalty.5 Accordingly, for the reasons above, I assess Respondent a penalty of $26,000 for\nviolation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1).\nPayment of the civil penalty must be made within 20 days after receipt of this Final Order.\nFederal regulations (49 C.F.R. § 89.21(b)(3)) require such payment to be made by wire transfer\nthrough the Federal Reserve Communications System (Fedwire), to the account of the U.S.\nTreasury. Detailed instructions are contained in the enclosure. Questions concerning wire\ntransfers should be directed to: Financial Operations Division (AMK-325), Federal Aviation\nAdministration, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, 6500 S MacArthur Blvd, Oklahoma City,\nOklahoma 79169. The Financial Operations Division telephone number is (405) 954-8845.\nFailure to pay the civil penalty will result in accrual of interest at the current annual rate in\naccordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3717, 31 C.F.R. § 901.9 and 49 C.F.R. § 89.23. Pursuant to those\nsame authorities, a late penalty charge of six percent (6%) per annum will be charged if payment\nis not made within 110 days of service. Furthermore, failure to pay the civil penalty may result\nin referral of the matter to the Attorney General for appropriate action in a district court of the\nUnited States.\nWARNING ITEM\nWith respect to Item 2, the Notice alleged a probable violation of Part 192, but identified it as a\nwarning item pursuant to § 190.205. The warning was for:\n4 These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. See 49 C.F.R. § 190.223 for adjusted amounts.\n5 Although two of the three allegations are withdrawn, this does not result in a penalty reduction because the\nproposed penalty amount was based on a single allegation of violation. See Violation Report, at 8.\n\n\n\n49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) (Item 2) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to maintain\ndocumentation demonstrating that field personnel contacted the control room\nwhen making field changes that affect control room operations in accordance with\nthe requirements of § 192.631(f)(2).\nEGTS presented information in its Response showing that it had taken certain actions to address\nthe cited item. If OPS finds a violation of this provision in a subsequent inspection, Respondent\nmay be subject to future enforcement action.\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.243, Respondent may submit a Petition for Reconsideration of this Final\nOrder to the Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey\nAvenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590, with a copy sent to the Office of\nChief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address. The written petition must be received no later than\n20 days after receipt of the Final Order by Respondent. Any petition submitted must contain a\nbrief statement of the issue(s) and meet all other requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.243. The filing\nof a petition automatically stays the payment of any civil penalty assessed. The other terms of\nthe order, including any corrective action, remain in effect unless the Associate Administrator,\nupon request, grants a stay. If Respondent submits payment of the civil penalty, the Final Order\nbecomes the final administrative decision and the right to petition for reconsideration is waived.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\nApril 5, 2024\n___________________________________ _________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":16343}