{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 320135025","title":"TRANSMONTAIGNE OPERATING COMPANY L.P. — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2013-08-19","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 195.402(c)(13).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320135025.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320135025.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-320135025","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/320135025","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving TRANSMONTAIGNE OPERATING COMPANY L.P.. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 195.402(c)(13). The case was opened on 2013-08-19 and is reported as closed as of 2014-11-25. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n320135025_Closure_11252014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320135025/320135025_Closure_11252014.pdf\n\n320135025_Closure_11252014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320135025/320135025_Closure_11252014_text.pdf\n\n320135025_Final Order_05082014.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320135025/320135025_Final%20Order_05082014.pdf\n\n320135025_Final Order_05082014_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320135025/320135025_Final%20Order_05082014_text.pdf\n\n320135025_NOPV PCO_08192013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320135025/320135025_NOPV%20PCO_08192013.pdf\n\n320135025_NOPV PCO_08192013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320135025/320135025_NOPV%20PCO_08192013_text.pdf\n\n320135025_Operator Response to Notice_10292013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/320135025/320135025_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_10292013.pdf\n\n320135025_Final Order_05082014_text.pdf\n\nMAY 8, 2014\nMr. Charles L. Dunlap\nChief Executive Officer\nTransMontaigne Operating Company, LP\n1670 Broadway, Room 3100\nDenver, Colorado 80202\nRe: CPF No. 3-2013-5025\nDear Mr. Dunlap:\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 TransMontaigne Operating Company,\nLP, to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have\nbeen completed, as determined by the Director, Central 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: Ms. Linda Daugherty, Director, Central 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__________________________________________\nIn the Matter of )\nTransMontaigne Operating Company, LP, ) CPF No. 3-2013-5025\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n__________________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nOn October 1-5, 2012, 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 facilities and records of TransMontaigne\nOperating Company, LP (TransMontaigne or Respondent), in Missouri and Arkansas. The\ninspection covered the company’s Razorback Pipeline facilities in Missouri and Arkansas\n(Razorback Pipeline) and an examination of TransMontaigne records at the company’s offices in\nRogers, Arkansas. TransMontaigne is a terminal services company providing use, storage and\ntransportation services for oil and gas distributors and marketers in multiple states, including\nFlorida, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina,\nSouth Carolina and Virginia.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Central Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated August 19, 2013, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Compliance Order\n(Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that\nTransMontaigne had violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402, and ordering Respondent to take certain\nmeasures to correct the alleged violation.\nTransMontaigne first responded to the Notice by letter dated October 29, 2013, and again by\nletter dated December 11, 2013 (collectively, Response). The company did not contest the\nallegation of violation but provided information concerning the corrective actions it had taken\nand submitted copies of its revised procedures for review by the Director. Respondent did not\nrequest a hearing and therefore has waived its right to one.\n1 TransMontaigne Operating Company, LP, About TLP, available at http://www.transmontaignepartners.com/about-\ntransmontaigne-limited-partners (last accessed March 17, 2014).\n\n\n\n2\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, TransMontaigne did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated\n49 C.F.R. Part 195, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402(c), which states, in\nrelevant part:\n§ 195.402 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and\nemergencies.\n(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each pipeline\nsystem a manual of written procedures for conducting normal operations\nand maintenance activities and handling abnormal operations and\nemergencies. This manual shall be reviewed at intervals not exceeding 15\nmonths, but at least once each calendar year, and appropriate changes\nmade as necessary to insure that the manual is effective. . . .\n(c) Maintenance and normal operations. The manual required by\nparagraph (a) of this section must include procedures for the following to\nprovide safety during maintenance and normal operations:\n(1) . . .\n(13) Periodically reviewing the work done by operator personnel to\ndetermine the effectiveness of the procedures used in normal operation\nand maintenance and taking corrective action where deficiencies are\nfound. . . .\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.402(c) by failing to prepare and\nfollow a manual of written procedures for conducting normal operations and maintenance\nprocedures. Specifically, the Notice alleged that TransMontaigne had prepared written\nprocedures in its operations and maintenance manual to evaluate company personnel but had\nfailed to document periodic reviews of the work done to determine the effectiveness of its\nnormal operation and maintenance procedures. During the inspection, TransMontaigne was able\nto provide documentation that the performance of individual personnel was regularly reviewed,\nbut no systematic steps were taken to ensure that overall operations and maintenance procedures\nwere effective.\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation. Accordingly, based upon a review of all\nof the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.402(c) by failing to prepare and\nfollow a manual of written procedures for conducting normal operations and maintenance\nprocedures.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\n\n\n\n3\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 in the Notice for violation of\n49 C.F.R. § 195.402(c). Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the\ntransportation of hazardous liquids or who owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to\ncomply with the applicable safety standards established under chapter 601. The Director has\nindicated that Respondent has taken the following actions to address the cited violation:\n1. With regard to Item No. 1(i) in the proposed compliance order, Respondent\nprovided its amended “DOT Employee Appraisal Form” to ensure the proper\nreview of work performed by company personnel to determine the effectiveness\nof operation and maintenance procedures. In addition, Respondent provided\ncopies of its amended “Annual/Periodic Review & Procedure Request Form,”\nwhich provided further opportunity for evaluation of the company’s operation and\nmaintenance procedures.\nAccordingly, I find that compliance has been achieved with respect to this violation. Therefore,\nthe compliance terms proposed in the Notice for Item 1(i) are not included in this Order.\nAs for the remaining compliance terms, pursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and\n49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the following actions to ensure compliance\nwith the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 195.402(c) (Item 1(ii) of the proposed\ncompliance order), TransMontaigne must, within 90 days of receipt of this Final\nOrder, review all operations and maintenance work performed on the Razorback\nPipeline in the 180 days prior to the date of this Final Order. This review is to\ndetermine the effectiveness of its manual of written procedures required by §\n195.402(a), any applicable standards, and the revised procedures developed as a result\nof the Notice. Any deficiencies or improvements identified as a result of this review\nwill be corrected, and documentation of any corrective actions will be provided to the\nDirector within 30 days of completing the review.\n2. It is requested (not mandated) that TransMontaigne maintain documentation of\nthe safety improvement costs associated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and\nsubmit the total to Linda Daugherty, Director, Central Region, Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration. It is requested that these costs be\nreported in two categories: 1) total cost associated with preparation/revision of plans,\nprocedures, studies and analyses; and 2) total cost associated with replacements,\naddition and other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\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.\n\n\n\n4\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.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order [CPF No. 3-2013-5025] are effective upon service\nin accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nJeffrey D. Wiese Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n320135025_Closure_11252014_text.pdf\n\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nNovember 25, 2014\nMr. Charles L. Dunlap\nChief Executive Officer\nTransMontaigne Operating Company, LP\n1670 Broadway, Room 3100\nDenver, Colorado 80202\nRe: CPF 3-2013-5025\nDear Mr. Dunlap:\nOn May 8, 2014, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)\nissued to TransMontaigne a Final Order in the above-referenced case. This Order included a\nCompliance Order. Based on our review of the documentation you provided, 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,\nAllan Beshore\nDirector, Central Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","truncated":false,"body_characters":11083}