GEORGIA-PACIFIC CONSUMER — Notice of Probable Violation

case documentOfficial PDFcpf_220051007.pdf#

220051007_final order_09012005_text.pdf, page 1Official PDFU 5 Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 400 Seventh Street, S W Washington, D C 20590 SEP — 1 2005 Mr Charles Hodges Senior Vice President Southern Region Georgia-Pacific, Crossett Paper Operations P 0 Box 333 Corssett, AR 71635 RE CPF No 2-2005-1007 Dear Mr Hodges Enclosed is the Final Order issued by the Associate Administrator for Pipehne Safety in the above-referenced case It makes a finding of violation, assesses a civil penalty of $5, 000 and requires certain corrective action The penalty payment terms are set forth in the Final Order When the civil penalty is paid and the terms of the compliance order are completed, as determined by the Director Southern Region, this enforcement action will be closed Your receipt of this Final Order constitutes service of that document under 49 C F R I'1 190 5 Sincerely, James Reynolds Pipehne Compltance Registry Office of Pipehne Safety Enclosure cc Ms Linda Daugherty, Director, Southern Region, OPS ~~etEi~gg cpp y 9 m% CERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT RE UESTED#

220051007_final order_09012005_text.pdf, page 2DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY WASHINGTON, DC 20590 In the Matter of ) Georgia-Pacific, Crossett Paper Operations, ) ) ) Respondent. ) CPF No. 2-2005-1007 FINAL ORDER On October 5-7, 2004, pursuant to 49 U S C (J' 60117, representatives of the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), Southern Region, conducted an inspection of Respondent's Operator Qualification Plan at its Crossett, Arkansas facihty As a result of the mspection, the Director, Southern Region, OPS, issued to Respondent, by letter dated January 31, 2005, a Notice of Probable Violation, Proposed Civil Penalty and Proposed Comphance Order (Notice)' In accordance with 49 C F R $ 190 207, the Notice proposed finding that Respondent had violated 49 C F R IJ 192 805, proposed assessing a civil penalty of $5, 000 for the alleged violation and proposed that Respondent take certain measures to correct the alleged violation Respondent responded to the Notice by letter dated, March 4, 2005 (Response) Respondent contested the allegation of violation and provided information concermng the corrective actions it has taken Respondent did not request a heanng, and therefore has waived its right to one FINDINGS OF VIOLATION Item 1 of the Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C F R )192 805(b), by not having a written quahfication program with provisions to ensure through evaluation that individuals performing covered tasks are qualified, as Respondent's evaluations do not address abnormal operating conditions by task or generically In response to the Notice, Respondent submitted a revised Operator Qualification Plan dated January 6 2005 and a document addressing Operator Qualification (OQ) traming of its personnel t 1 ' This case, however, is no longer before RSPA for decision Effecnve February 20, 2005, the Pipelme and Hazardous Matena la Safety Adnumstranon (PHMSA) was created to further the lughest degree of safety m pip elme transportation and hazardous matenals transportation See, section 108 of the Norman Y Miners Research and Special Programs Improvement Aci (Public Law 108-426, 118 Stat 2423-2429 (November 30, 2004)) See also, 70 Fed Reg 8299 (February 18, 2005) redelegatmg the pipeline safety functions ro the Adnunistrator, PHMSA#

220051007_final order_09012005_text.pdf, page 3Respondent advised that it has fully implemented the items in the proposed compliance order Respondent contended that it began to revamp its wntten program in Apnl 2001 and changed the language in November 2004 to make certain all rules and regulations were adequately and completely covered m its OQ manual A review of Respondent's submission demonstrates that Respondent has estabhshed Abnormal Operating Conditions(AOC) for its OQ tasks and trained their personnel under its revised OQ Plan and AOCs However, Respondent failed to demonstrate that its personnel has been quahfied on the AOCs of the revised OQ Plan By definition, a person is qualified when he)she can perform the task and recogmze and react to abnormal operating conditions Accordmgly, 1 find that Respondent violated 49 C F R $192 805(b), as Respondent fiuled to demonstrate that individuals performing covered tasks are quahfied to recognize and react to abnormal operating conditions ASSESSMENT OF PENALTY Under 49 U S C $ 60122, Respondent is sub]ect to a civil penalty not to exceed $100, 000 per violation for each day of the violation up to a maximum of $1, 000, 000 for any related series of violations 49 U S C 1) 60122 and 49 C F R 1) 190 225 reqmre that, in determnung the amount of the civil penalty, I consider the following criteria nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation, degree of Respondent's culpabihty, history of Respondent's prior offenses, Respondent's abihty to pay the penalty, good faith by Respondent in attemptmg to achieve compliance, the effect on Respondent's abihty to continue in business, and such other matters as)ustice may require The Notice in Item I proposed a civil penalty of $5, 000 for violation of 49 C F R ) 192 805, as Respondent failed to have a written qualification program with provisions to ensure through evaluation that individuals performmg covered tasks are quahfied Respondent argued that it had met the reqmrement of 49 C F R 1) 192 805 and subnutted its revised OQ Plan Respondent also requested that the proposed civil penalty be elumnated or reduced as much of its operation and maintenance is performed by Centerpoint Energy (Centerpomt) under Centerpoint's quahfication plan Respondent contended that its personnel quahfied under it's OQ plan only perform limited tasks on the pipehne Although Respondent argued that Centerpoint performs much of its operation and maintenance, Respondent is ultimately responsible for its facility's comphance with pipehne safety regulations While Respondent has demonstrated that it has established Abnormal Operating Conditions(AOC) for its OQ tasks and trained their personnel under its revised OQ Plan with AOCs Federal regulations requne that Respondent's personnelperforirung covered tasks are qualified and recogmze and react to abnormal operating condit:ons Respondent fat!ed to demonstrate that its personne has been quahfied under its revised OQ Plan to respond to AOCs on its pipeline An inadequate or incorrect response to an AOC by Respondent could result m a pipehne accident or increase the seventy of accident consequences Respondent has not provided any evidence that would1ustify#

220051007_final order_09012005_text.pdf, page 4elinunation of the proposed civil penalty Accordmgly, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment cntena, I assess Respondent a civil penalty of $5, 000, for violation of 49 C F R )192 805(b) Payment of the civil penalty must be made within 20 days of service Payment may be made by sending a certified check or money order (containing the CPF Number for this case) payable to "U S Department of Transportation" to the Federal Aviation Administration, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, Financial Operations Division (AMZ-120), P 0 Box 25082, Oklahoma City, OK 73125 Federal regulations (49 C F R $ 89 21(b)(3)) also permit this 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 (AMZ-120), Federal Aviation Adimnistration, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, P 0 Box 25082, Oklahoma City, OK 73125, (405) 954-8893 Failure to pay the $5, 000 civil penalty will result in accrual of interest at the current annual rate in accordancewith31U S C 1'l 3717, 31 C F R 1'l 901 9and49 C F R t'l 89 23 Pursuant tothose same authonties, 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 m an United States Distnct Court COMPLIANCE ORDER The Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 for violation of 49 C F R tl 192 805(b) Respondent submitted information to show that it has addressed the first item in the Proposed Compliance Order Under 49 U S C t'l 60118(a), each person who engages m the transportation o fhazardous gas or who owns or operates a pipeline facihty is required to comply with the applicable safety standards established under chapter 601 Pursuant to the authonty of 49 U S C $ 60118(b) and 49 C F R $ 190 217, Respondent is ordered to take the following actions to ensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations Respondent must- I Subnut documentation to show that each employee is quahfied as per the revised Operator Quahfication Plan and abnormal operating conditions Complete this item within 90 days of receipt of this Order 2 Submit documentation and evidence of completion of Item 1 to Ms Linda Daugherty, Director, OPS, Southern Region, Pipelme and Hazardous Matenals Safety Administration, 233 Peachtree Street, Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30303#

220051007_final order_09012005_text.pdf, page 5The Director, OPS, Southern Region may grant an extension of nme for compliance with any of the terms of this order for good cause A request for an extension must be m writing and adequately lusttfies the reasons for the extension Failure to comply with this Final Order may result in the assessment of civil penalties of up to $100, 000 per violation per day, or in the referral of the case for ludhcial enforcement Under 49 C F R $ 190 215, Respondent has a nght to subnnt a Petition for Reconsideration of tins Final Order The petition must be received withm 20 days of Respondent's receipt of this Final Order and must contain a brief statement of the issue(s) The fihng of the petition automatically stays the payment of any civil penalty assessed All other terms of the order, including any required corrective action, remain in full effect unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a stay The terms and conditions of th!s Final Order are effective on receipt SEe -1 200; Date Issued St ce Gerard As oc ate Administrator for Pipeline Safety#