# EASTERN GAS TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE, INC. — Notice of Probable Violation

- **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:** Not available
- **summary:** CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.631(j)(1).
- **machine formats:** - **json:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-12023027nopv.json
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- **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.

Official case documents:

12023027NOPV_Final Order_04052024_(21-199435).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_Final%20Order_04052024_(21-199435).pdf

12023027NOPV_Final Order_04052024_(21-199435)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_Final%20Order_04052024_(21-199435)_text.pdf

12023027NOPV_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

12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435).pdf

12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/12023027NOPV/12023027NOPV_PCP_06012023_(21-199435)_text.pdf

12023027NOPV_Final Order_04052024_(21-199435)_text.pdf

April 5, 2024
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: paul.ruppert@bhegts.com
Paul Ruppert
President, Gas Transmission and Storage
Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc.
6603 West Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23200
Re: CPF No. 1-2023-027-NOPV
Dear Mr. Ruppert:
Enclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of
violation and assesses a civil penalty of $26,000. The penalty payment terms are set forth in the
Final Order. This enforcement action closes automatically upon receipt of payment. Service of
the Final Order by e-mail is effective upon the date of transmission and acknowledgement of
receipt as provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,
Alan K. Mayberry
Associate Administrator
for Pipeline Safety
Enclosure
cc: Mr. Robert Burrough, Director, Eastern Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA
Mr. Matt Lamb, Vice President, Eastern Pipeline Operations, Eastern Gas
Transmission and Storage, Inc., matt.lamb@bhegts.com
Mr. Dan Stahl, Pipeline Integrity Engineer, Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc.,
daniel.stahl@bhegts.com
CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT REQUESTED



U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590
________________________________________
)
In the Matter of )
)
Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc., ) CPF No. 1-2023-027-NOPV
)
Respondent. )
________________________________________)
FINAL ORDER
From November 15, 2021, to November 19, 2021, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117,
representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office
of Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and
records of Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc.’s (EGTS or Respondent) procedures and
records for control room management of its control room in Bridgeport, West Virginia. EGTS
primarily provides natural gas transmission and natural gas underground storage services with
links to markets in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.1
As a result of the inspection, the Director, Eastern Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,
by letter dated June 1, 2023, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty (Notice).
In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that EGTS had violated 49
C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $26,000 for the alleged
violation. The Notice also included an additional warning item pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205,
which warned the operator to correct the probable violation or face possible future enforcement
action.
EGTS responded to the Notice by letter dated June 28, 2023 (Response). In its Response,
Respondent contested the alleged violation, provided additional information in response to the
Notice, and requested a withdrawal of the proposed civil penalty. Respondent did not request a
hearing and therefore has waived its right to one.
FINDING OF VIOLATION
The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:
1 Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, Inc. website, available at https://www.bhegts.com/our-businesses/EGTS
(last accessed March 8, 2024).



Item 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1), which states:
§ 192.631(j)(1) Control room management.
(a) ….
(j) Compliance and deviations. An operator must maintain for review
during inspection:
(1) Records that demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this
section; and
The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) by failing to maintain
records that demonstrate compliance with § 192.631(h).2 Specifically, the Notice alleged that
EGTS failed to maintain documentation of a training program for training each controller to
carry out their defined roles and responsibilities. The Notice also alleged that during the
inspection EGTS was unable to provide any record of training its controllers to carry out their
roles and responsibilities. Additionally, the Notice alleged that EGTS provided no records to
demonstrate how controllers are operator qualified for the covered tasks associated with being a
controller.
In its Response, Respondent argued that a Controller Training Program existed when PHMSA’s
inspection took place between November 15 and 19, 2021, and that the program required its
controllers to be operator qualified for covered tasks designated by EGTS.
3 Respondent argued
that PHMSA reviewed the existing Controller Training Program during the inspection and was
provided a copy of the program on November 19, 2021. EGTS stated that the existing Controller
Training Program provided for the completion of an online course, test, and performance
evaluation for covered task L04.1371 and completion of an online course and test for covered
task M11.5751. EGTS contended that PHMSA received and reviewed the training records for a
select sample of its controllers, which documented successful completion of the designated
covered tasks L04.1371 and M11.5751. EGTS argued that the aforementioned training records
for a select sample of its controllers sufficiently demonstrated how controllers are operator
qualified for the covered task associated with being a controller. Additionally, in its Response,
EGTS provided additional information demonstrating that it updated its Controller Training
Program for the purpose of process improvement following receipt of the Post-inspection
Written Preliminary Findings from PHMSA.
Section 192.631(j)(1) requires operators to maintain for review during an inspection records that
demonstrate compliance with the requirements of § 192.631, including the requirements at
§ 192.631(h). Section 192.631(h) requires, among other things, operators to establish a
controller training program and to train each controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities
defined by the operator. The Notice made three allegations: first, that Respondent failed to
maintain documentation of a training program; second, that it failed to provide any record of
training its controllers; and third, that Respondent did not provide records to demonstrate how
2 Section 192.631(h) requires an operator to establish a controller training program that “must provide for training
each controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities defined by the operator.”
3 The covered tasks EGTS noted include L04.1371 Operate Gas Pipeline – System Control Center Operations, and
M11.5751 Recognize and React to Generic Abnormal Operating Conditions [hereinafter “L04.1371” and
“M11.5751”].



controllers are operator qualified.
With regard to the first allegation that Respondent failed to maintain documentation of a training
program, the record shows that Respondent provided a copy of its controller training program to
PHMSA during the inspection. In the Region Director’s written evaluation of Respondent’s
response material made pursuant to § 190.207(b)(7), the Region Director did not dispute that a
copy of the controller training program was provided. Accordingly, contrary to the first
allegation, the record in this case demonstrates Respondent did have documentation of a training
program and provided that documentation to PHMSA during the inspection. Therefore, this
allegation is withdrawn.
With regard to the second allegation that Respondent failed to provide any record of training its
controllers, the record shows that during the inspection, Respondent did not provide training
records associated with all controllers. Furthermore, in its Response to the allegation in the
Notice that Respondent did not provide training records documenting training each controller to
carry out defined roles and responsibilities, Respondent did not produce any additional records
demonstrating the training of each controller. Because Respondent did not maintain, and
produce for review, records that demonstrate each controller had been trained, I find Respondent
did not comply with § 192.631(j)(1).
Finally, with regard to the allegation that Respondent did not provide records to demonstrate
how controllers are operator qualified, I note that while the controller training program
established by 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(h) ensures controllers are properly trained, operators must
also comply with additional operator qualification (OQ) requirements contained in 49 CFR Part
192, Subpart N. Specifically, 49 C.F.R. § 192.801 prescribes the minimum OQ requirements for
individuals, including controllers, who perform covered tasks on a pipeline facility. Operators
are also required to maintain OQ records pursuant to § 192.807. The Notice did not allege a
violation of the OQ requirements in Subpart N. Furthermore, Respondent provided additional
information in its Response that it had designated two covered tasks associated with being a
controller in its training program under 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(h). Respondent stated that the
covered task associated with control center operations (L04.1371) required the successful
completion of an online course, test, and performance evaluation, while the covered task
associated with recognizing and reacting to generic abnormal operating conditions (M11.5751)
required the successful completion of an online course and test. Based on the Notice’s failure to
allege a violation of 49 CFR Part 192, Subpart N, and the additional information provided by
Respondent, I find that a finding of violation on such a basis is not warranted. Accordingly, this
allegation in withdrawn.
In conclusion, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R.
§ 192.631(j)(1) by failing to maintain and produce records that demonstrate the training of each
controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities defined by the operator. The additional
allegations that Respondent failed to maintain documentation of a training program and failed to
demonstrate how controllers are operator qualified are withdrawn.



ASSESSMENT OF PENALTY
Under 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.223, Respondent is subject to an administrative
civil penalty not to exceed $257,664 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum
of $2,576,627 for any related series of violations.4
In determining the amount of a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225, I
must consider the following criteria: the nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation,
including adverse impact on the environment; the degree of Respondent’s culpability; the history
of Respondent’s prior offenses; any effect that the penalty may have on its ability to continue
doing business; the good faith of Respondent in attempting to comply with the pipeline safety
regulations; and self-disclosure or actions to correct a violation prior to discovery by PHMSA.
In addition, I may consider the economic benefit gained from the violation without any reduction
because of subsequent damages, and such other matters as justice may require. The Notice
proposed a total civil penalty of $26,000 for the violation cited above.
Item 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $26,000 for Respondent’s alleged violation of 49
C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) for failing to maintain records that demonstrate compliance with
§ 192.631(h). In its Response, Respondent did not separately address the proposed civil penalty
amount or present any evidence or argument that warrants reducing or eliminating the proposed
penalty.5 Accordingly, for the reasons above, I assess Respondent a penalty of $26,000 for
violation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1).
Payment of the civil penalty must be made within 20 days after receipt of this Final Order.
Federal regulations (49 C.F.R. § 89.21(b)(3)) require such payment to be made by wire transfer
through the Federal Reserve Communications System (Fedwire), to the account of the U.S.
Treasury. Detailed instructions are contained in the enclosure. Questions concerning wire
transfers should be directed to: Financial Operations Division (AMK-325), Federal Aviation
Administration, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, 6500 S MacArthur Blvd, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma 79169. The Financial Operations Division telephone number is (405) 954-8845.
Failure to pay the civil penalty will result in accrual of interest at the current annual rate in
accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3717, 31 C.F.R. § 901.9 and 49 C.F.R. § 89.23. Pursuant to those
same authorities, a late penalty charge of six percent (6%) per annum will be charged if payment
is not made within 110 days of service. Furthermore, failure to pay the civil penalty may result
in referral of the matter to the Attorney General for appropriate action in a district court of the
United States.
WARNING ITEM
With respect to Item 2, the Notice alleged a probable violation of Part 192, but identified it as a
warning item pursuant to § 190.205. The warning was for:
4 These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. See 49 C.F.R. § 190.223 for adjusted amounts.
5 Although two of the three allegations are withdrawn, this does not result in a penalty reduction because the
proposed penalty amount was based on a single allegation of violation. See Violation Report, at 8.



49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) (Item 2) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to maintain
documentation demonstrating that field personnel contacted the control room
when making field changes that affect control room operations in accordance with
the requirements of § 192.631(f)(2).
EGTS presented information in its Response showing that it had taken certain actions to address
the cited item. If OPS finds a violation of this provision in a subsequent inspection, Respondent
may be subject to future enforcement action.
Under 49 C.F.R. § 190.243, Respondent may submit a Petition for Reconsideration of this Final
Order to the Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590, with a copy sent to the Office of
Chief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address. The written petition must be received no later than
20 days after receipt of the Final Order by Respondent. Any petition submitted must contain a
brief statement of the issue(s) and meet all other requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.243. The filing
of a petition automatically stays the payment of any civil penalty assessed. The other terms of
the order, including any corrective action, remain in effect unless the Associate Administrator,
upon request, grants a stay. If Respondent submits payment of the civil penalty, the Final Order
becomes the final administrative decision and the right to petition for reconsideration is waived.
The terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49
C.F.R. § 190.5.
April 5, 2024
___________________________________ _________________________
Alan K. Mayberry Date Issued
Associate Administrator
for Pipeline Safety
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