{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 32022007NOA","title":"NUSTAR LOGISTICS, L.P. — Notice of Amendment","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2022-01-28","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of amendment citing 195.402(c)(3), 195.452(f)(5), 195.452(f)(6), 195.452(k).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-32022007noa.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-32022007noa.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-32022007noa","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/32022007NOA","body":"Notice of Amendment involving NUSTAR LOGISTICS, L.P.. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 195.402(c)(3),  195.452(f)(5),  195.452(f)(6),  195.452(k). The case was opened on 2022-01-28 and is reported as closed as of 2022-04-07. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n32022007NOA_Closure Letter_04072022_(20-179651).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/32022007NOA/32022007NOA_Closure%20Letter_04072022_(20-179651).pdf\n\n32022007NOA_Closure Letter_04072022_(20-179651)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/32022007NOA/32022007NOA_Closure%20Letter_04072022_(20-179651)_text.pdf\n\n32022007NOA_Notice of Amendment_01282022_(20-179651).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/32022007NOA/32022007NOA_Notice%20of%20Amendment_01282022_(20-179651).pdf\n\n32022007NOA_Notice of Amendment_01282022_(20-179651)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/32022007NOA/32022007NOA_Notice%20of%20Amendment_01282022_(20-179651)_text.pdf\n\n32022007NOA_Notice of Amendment_01282022_(20-179651)_text.pdf\n\nNOTICE OF AMENDMENT\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: Brad.Barron@nustarenergy.com and\ngary.koegeboehn@nustarenergy.com\nJanuary 28, 2022\nMr. Brad Barron\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nNuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership, L.P.\n19003 IH-10 West\nSan Antonio, Texas 78257\nRE: NuStar Logistics, L.P.\nCPF 3-2022-007-NOA\nDear Mr. Barron:\nFrom February 24, 2020, through December 9, 2020, representatives of the Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United\nStates Code (U.S.C.), inspected NuStar Logistics, L.P.’s (NuStar)1 procedures for its pipeline\nfacilities in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado subject to 49 CFR Part 195.\nOn the basis of the inspection, PHMSA has identified the apparent inadequacies found within\nNuStar’s procedures, as described below:\n1 NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership, L.P. operates the assets of NuStar Logistics, L.P.\n\n\n\n1. § 195.402 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.\n(a) . . .\n(c) Maintenance and normal operations. The manual required by paragraph (a) of\nthis section must include procedures for the following to provide safety during\nmaintenance and normal operations:\n(3) Operating, maintaining, and repairing the pipeline system in accordance with\neach of the requirements of this subpart and subpart H of this part.\nDuring the PHMSA inspection, pipeline pig launcher and receiver kicker valves were observed\npartially opened to ensure thermal relief of the barrel during non-pigging operations. However,\nNuStar’s O&M procedures 317 and 318 did not specifically identify that launcher and receiver\nkicker valves be left in this state to ensure thermal relief during non-pigging operations and\nprovide safety during normal operations. NuStar’s procedures were therefore inadequate and did\nnot adequately address the requirements of § 195.402(c)(3). On November 16, 2021, NuStar\nsubmitted amendments to the procedures that satisfactorily address this inadequacy. No further\naction is required.\n2. § 195.452 Pipeline integrity management in high consequence areas.\n(a) . . .\n(f) What are the elements of an integrity management program? An integrity\nmanagement program begins with the initial framework. An operator must\ncontinually change the program to reflect operating experience, conclusions\ndrawn from results of the integrity assessments, and other maintenance and\nsurveillance data, and evaluation of consequences of failure on the high\nconsequence area. An operator must include, at minimum, each of the following\nelements in its written integrity management program . . .\n(5) A continual process of assessment and evaluation to maintain a pipeline’s\nintegrity (see paragraph (j) of this section);\nNuStar’s Liquid Integrity Management Program and Procedures Manual (IMP), Version 8.1\n(dated July 2020), did not incorporate by reference the Crack Integrity Management Program\nManual (CIMP). Based on NuStar’s operating experience, the CIMP is used in certain\ncircumstances to evaluate pipeline integrity. Therefore, by not including the CIMP in its IMP\nprogram, NuStar has not continually changed the IMP program to reflect operating experience in\naccordance with §195.452(f)(5). On November 16, 2021, NuStar submitted amendments to the\nIMP that satisfactorily address this inadequacy. No further action is necessary.\n2\n\n\n\n3. § 195.452 Pipeline integrity management in high consequence areas.\n(a) . . .\n(f) What are the elements of an integrity management program? An integrity\nmanagement program begins with the initial framework. An operator must\ncontinually change the program to reflect operating experience, conclusions\ndrawn from results of the integrity assessments, and other maintenance and\nsurveillance data, and evaluation of consequences of failure on the high\nconsequence area. An operator must include, at minimum, each of the following\nelements in its written integrity management program . . .\n(5) A continual process of assessment and evaluation to maintain a pipeline’s\nintegrity (see paragraph (j) of this section);\nThe Facility Integrity Management Program (FIMP) did not incorporate lessons learned from\noperating experience, such as failures, root cause analyses, and/or trending facility leak history.\nSpecifically, the FIMP did not require appropriate corrections or modifications be made to the\nFIMP based on lessons learned. In addition, the FIMP did not require review of abnormal\noperations, lessons learned, and near-misses to ensure appropriate actions be taken at facilities\nfor the identified threats. Further, the FIMP did not clarify the periodic evaluation intervals\nbased on facility risk factors. For example, evaluation intervals may depend on the facility type\n(e.g. pump stations, breakout tanks, metering and delivery stations, etc.) or types of risk, etc.\nTherefore, NuStar’s FIMP was not in accordance with §195.452(f)(5). On November 16, 2021,\nNuStar submitted amendments to the FIMP that satisfactorily address the above issues. No\nfurther action is necessary.\n4. § 195.452 Pipeline Integrity Management in high consequence areas.\n(a) . . .\n(f) What are the elements of an integrity management program? An integrity\nmanagement program begins with the initial framework. An operator must\ncontinually change the program to reflect operating experience, conclusions\ndrawn from results of the integrity assessments, and other maintenance and\nsurveillance data, and evaluation of consequences of failure on the high\nconsequence area. An operator must include, at minimum, each of the following\nelements in its written integrity management program . . .\n(6) Identification of preventive and mitigative measures to protect the high\nconsequence area (see paragraph (i) of this section);\nNuStar's Facility Integrity Management Program, Version A, 2020 (FIMP) failed to identify\npreventative and mitigative measures to protect the high consequence area. Specifically, the\nFIMP did not describe the documentation and records that are to be maintained for the facility\nP&M process. Therefore, the FIMP was inadequate and not in accordance with §195.452(f)(6).\nOn November 16, 2021, NuStar submitted amendments to the FIMP that satisfactorily address\nthe above issue. No further action is required.\n3\n\n\n\n5. § 195.452 Pipeline integrity management in high consequence areas.\n(a) . . .\n(k) What methods to measure program effectiveness must be used? An operator's\nprogram must include methods to measure whether the program is effective in\nassessing and evaluating the integrity of each pipeline segment and in protecting\nthe high consequence areas. See Appendix C of this part for guidance on\nmethods that can be used to evaluate a program's effectiveness.\nNuStar’s Liquid Pipeline Integrity Management Program (IMP), Section 8.1, and Procedure 801\n(Annual IMP Review) outline that the IMP annual review include measures, performance\nmetrics, and data from external sources, such as PHMSA data. However, it was not clear how\nNuStar documents any feedback from this review that results in procedural changes.\nSpecifically, procedure change logs have been documented in the IMP, but whether the changes\ncame from the IMP program effectiveness review was not evident. Therefore, NuStar’s IMP and\nProcedure 801 were not in accordance with §195.452(k). On December 16, 2021, NuStar\nsubmitted amendments to the IMP and Procedure 801 that satisfactorily address the above issue.\nNo further action is required.\nResponse to this Notice\nThis Notice is provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60108(a) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.206. Enclosed as\npart of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators in\nEnforcement Proceedings. Please refer to this document and note the response options. Be\nadvised that all material you submit in response to this enforcement action is subject to being\nmade publicly available. If you believe that any portion of your responsive material qualifies for\nconfidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document you\nmust provide a second copy of the document with the portions you believe qualify for\nconfidential treatment redacted and an explanation of why you believe the redacted information\nqualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b).\nFollowing the receipt of this Notice, you have 30 days to submit written comments, revised\nprocedures, or a request for a hearing under §190.211. If you do not respond within 30 days of\nreceipt of this Notice, this constitutes a waiver of your right to contest the allegations in this\nNotice and authorizes the Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety to find facts as alleged in\nthis Notice without further notice to you and to issue an Order Directing Amendment. If your\nplans or procedures are found inadequate as alleged in this Notice, you may be ordered to amend\nyour plans or procedures to correct the inadequacies (49 C.F.R. § 190.206). Since all the\ninadequacies identified herein have been addressed in your amended procedures, this\nenforcement will be closed in 30 days unless you respond contesting any items.\n4\n\n\n\nIt is requested (not mandated) that NuStar Logistics, L.P., maintain documentation of the safety\nimprovement costs associated with fulfilling this Notice of Amendment (preparation/revision of\nplans, procedures) and submit the total to Gregory A. Ochs, Director, Central Region, Office of\nPipeline Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. In correspondence\nconcerning this matter, please refer to CPF 3-2022-007-NOA and, for each document you\nsubmit, please provide a copy in electronic format whenever possible.\nSincerely,\nGregory A. Ochs\nDirector, Central Region, OPS\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEnclosure: Response Options for Pipeline Operators in Enforcement Proceedings\nCc: Gary Koegeboehn\nVice President of Pipeline Operations\nNuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership, L.P.\n19003 IH-10 West\nSan Antonio, Texas 78257\ngary.koegeboehm@nustarenergy.com\n5\n\n32022007NOA_Closure Letter_04072022_(20-179651)_text.pdf\n\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: Brad.Barron@nustarenergy.com;\ngary.koegeboehn@nustarenergy.com\nApril 7, 2022\nMr. Brad Barron\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nNuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership, L.P.\n19003 IH-10 West\nSan Antonio, Texas 78257\nRE: NuStar Logistics, L.P.\nRe: CPF 3-2022-007-NOA\nDear Mr. Barron:\nFrom February 24, 2020, through December 9, 2021, representatives from the Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), pursuant to chapter 601 of 49 United\nStates Code (U.S.C.), inspected NuStar Logistics, L.P.’s (NuStar)1 procedures for its pipeline\nfacilities in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado subject to 49 CFR Part 195. As a\nresult of the inspection, NuStar was issued a Notice of Amendment on January 28, 2022, which\nproposed amendment of your procedures.\nNuStar submitted its amended procedures on or before December 26, 2021. My staff reviewed\nthe amended procedures, and it appears that the inadequacies outlined in this Notice of\nAmendment have been corrected.\nThis letter is to inform you no further action is necessary and this case is now closed. Thank you\nfor your cooperation.\nSincerely,\nGregory A. Ochs\nDirector, Central Region, Office of Pipeline Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\ncc: Gary Koegeboehn, Vice President of Pipeline Operations, NuStar Pipeline Operating\nPartnership, L.P., gary.koegeboehm@nustarenergy.com\n1 NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership, L.P. operates the assets of NuStar Logistics, L.P.","truncated":false,"body_characters":12726}