{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420151007","title":"BBT MIDLA, LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2015-04-20","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.631(c), 192.631(d)(3), 192.631(e)(4), 192.631(j)(1).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420151007.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420151007.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420151007","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420151007","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving BBT MIDLA, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.631(c),  192.631(d)(3),  192.631(e)(4),  192.631(j)(1). The case was opened on 2015-04-20 and is reported as closed as of 2018-01-12. Proposed civil penalty: $17,300. Assessed civil penalty: $17,300. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420151007_Closure Letter_01122018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_Closure%20Letter_01122018.pdf\n\n420151007_Closure Letter_01122018_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_Closure%20Letter_01122018_text.pdf\n\n420151007_Final Order_11152016.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_Final%20Order_11152016.pdf\n\n420151007_Final Order_11152016_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_Final%20Order_11152016_text.pdf\n\n420151007_NOPV PCP PCO_04202015.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_NOPV%20PCP%20PCO_04202015.pdf\n\n420151007_NOPV PCP PCO_04202015_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_NOPV%20PCP%20PCO_04202015_text.pdf\n\n420151007_Operator Response to Notice and Request for Time Extension_05202015.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice%20and%20Request%20for%20Time%20Extension_05202015.pdf\n\n420151007_Operator Response to Notice_06262015.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420151007/420151007_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_06262015.pdf\n\n420151007_Final Order_11152016_text.pdf\n\nNovember 15, 2016\nMr. Lynn L. Bourdon III\nChairman, President and Chief Executive Officer\nAmerican Midstream Partners, LP\n1400 16th Street, Suite 310\nDenver, CO 80202\nRe: CPF No. 4-2015-1007\nDear Mr. Bourdon:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes one finding\nof violation, assesses a civil penalty of $17,300, and specifies actions that need to be taken by\nAmerican Midstream Partners, LP to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. The penalty\npayment terms are set forth in the Final Order. When the civil penalty has been paid and the\nterms of the compliance order completed, as determined by the Director, Southwest Region, this\nenforcement action will be closed. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is deemed\neffective upon the date of mailing, or as otherwise provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nAlan K. Mayberry\nActing Associate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Mr. Rodrick M. Seeley, Director, Southwest Region, OPS\nMr. Ryan M. Newburn, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, American\nMidstream Partners, LP\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____________________________________\n)\nIn the Matter of )\n)\nAmerican Midstream Partners, LP, ) CPF No. 4-2015-1007\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nOn June 16-23, 2014, 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 American\nMidstream Partners, LP (American Midstream or Respondent) in Houston, Texas. American\nMidstream operates approximately 2,300 miles of pipeline and pipeline facilities that gather and\ntransport natural gas and link producers and suppliers to natural gas markets. 1 American\nMidstream also owns approximately 1.7 million barrels of storage capacity across four\nterminals.2\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated April 20, 2015, a Notice of Probable Violation, Proposed Civil\nPenalty, and Proposed Compliance Order (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the\nNotice proposed finding that American Midstream had violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631, and\nproposed assessing a civil penalty of $17,300 for the alleged violation. The Notice also proposed\nordering Respondent to take certain measures to correct the alleged violation.\nAmerican Midstream was granted a 30-day extension to respond to the Notice and responded by\nletter dated June 26, 2015 (Response). The company contested the allegation, offered an\nexplanation in response to the Notice, and requested that the proposed civil penalty be reduced.\nRespondent did not request a hearing 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 Pipeline Safety Violation Report (Violation Report), (April 20, 2015) (on file with PHMSA), at 1.\n2 Id.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2015-1007\nPage 2\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1), which states:\n§ 192.631 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. . .\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1) by failing to provide\nrecords sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of § 192.631(c), (d), and (e).\nThe requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 192.631 are, in relevant part:\n§ 192.631 Control room management\n(a) . . . .\n(c) Provide adequate information. Each operator must provide its controllers\nwith the information, tools, processes and procedures necessary for the controllers\nto carry out the roles and responsibilities the operator has defined by performing\neach of the following:\n(1) …\n(2) Conduct a point-to-point verification between SCADA displays and\nrelated field equipment when field equipment is added or moved and when other\nchanges that affect pipeline safety are made to field equipment or SCADA\ndisplays;\n(3) Test and verify an internal communication plan to provide adequate\nmeans for manual operation of the pipeline safely, at least once each calendar\nyear, but at intervals not to exceed 15 months;\n(4) Test any backup SCADA systems at least once each calendar year, but at\nintervals not to exceed 15 months . . .\n(d) Fatigue mitigation. Each operator must implement the following methods\nto reduce the risk associated with controller fatigue that could inhibit a\ncontroller’s ability to carry out the roles and responsibilities the operator has\ndefined:\n(1) . . .\n(3) Train controllers and supervisors to recognize the effects of fatigue . . .\n(e) Alarm management. Each operator using a SCADA system must have a\nwritten alarm management plan to provide for effective controller response to\nalarms. An operator’s plan must include provisions to:\n(1) . . .\n(4) Review the alarm management plan required by this paragraph at least\nonce each calendar year, but at intervals not exceeding 15 months, to determine\nthe effectiveness of the plan. . .\nSpecifically, the Notice alleged that American Midstream’s procedures specify its records\nretention will be between three to five years. American Midstream was able to provide some\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2015-1007\nPage 3\nrecords for 2011 and few records for 2014. There were no records provided for the period\nbetween 2012 and 2013. PHMSA reviewed the records and found them insufficient to\ndemonstrate compliance with the requirements of § 192.631(c), (d), and (e).\nIn its Response, American Midstream asserted that it understood the inspector’s request to be\nlimited to training records. Additionally, at the time of the inspection, American Midstream was\nin the process of revising its SCADA system, which impacted the type of documents that were\navailable. Respondent stated that it provided hard copy documents for review that included\ndocuments from 2013, but also acknowledged that certain records were unavailable at the time of\ninspection.\nAccordingly, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.631(j) by failing to provide records sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the\nrequirements of § 192.631(c), (d), and (e) in that there were systematic documentation and\nrecord retention issues indicated by the inspection. Moreover, Respondent admitted that records\nwere missing.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122, Respondent is subject to an administrative civil penalty not to exceed\n$200,000 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum of $2,000,000 for any\nrelated series of violations. In determining the amount of a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C.\n§ 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225, I must consider the following criteria: the nature,\ncircumstances, and gravity of the violation, including adverse impact on the environment; the\ndegree of Respondent’s culpability; the history of Respondent’s prior offenses; and any effect\nthat the penalty may have on its ability to continue doing business; and the good faith of\nRespondent in attempting to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. In addition, I may\nconsider the economic benefit gained from the violation without any reduction because of\nsubsequent damages, and such other matters as justice may require. The Notice proposed a total\ncivil penalty of $17,300 for the violation cited above.\nItem 1: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $17,300 for Respondent’s violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.631(j)(1) for failing to provide records sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the\nrequirements of § 192.631(c), (d), and (e). American Midstream requested that the proposed\npenalty be reduced based on a lower degree of culpability. American Midstream asserted that at\nthe time of inspection, it provided documents for hard copy review, including documents from\n2013. Respondent further asserted the 2013 documents contained sufficient information to meet\nthe training requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(h); however, the Notice did not allege\ndocumentation was missing for demonstrating compliance with § 192.631(h). The 2013 records\nwere not submitted with American Midstream’s Response, but even if they had been found and\nsubmitted, there was still additional missing documentation. American Midstream also stated it\nunderstood the inspector’s request to be limited to training records; however, the inspection\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2015-1007\nPage 4\ncovered all aspects of the Control Room Management program and regulations. Respondent\nstated it was in the process of revising its SCADA system which impacted the type of documents\nthat were available. Furthermore, American Midstream made several claims that relevant\ndocuments were available at the time of the inspection, but has not submitted any of those\nrecords. Even assuming those documents were submitted, Respondent admitted throughout its\nResponse that certain issues affected its ability to maintain some records, exercises were not\nproperly documented, and certain specific documentation may not have been maintained. These\nadmissions demonstrate Respondent failed to take appropriate action to comply with a clearly\napplicable requirement. I therefore find reducing the proposed penalty based on American\nMidstream’s level of culpability is not justified.\nAmerican Midstream stated that it has made several changes to ensure correct records are\ncapable of being produced, are kept up to date, and are retained. While it is commendable that\nRespondent has taken these steps, good faith actions in consideration of reducing the proposed\ncivil penalty are not those that take place after the violation. Accordingly, having reviewed the\nrecord and considered the assessment criteria, I assess Respondent a civil penalty of $17,300 for\nviolation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.631(j)(1).\nIn summary, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria for each of the\nItems cited above, I assess Respondent a total civil penalty of $17,300.\nPayment of the civil penalty must be made within 20 days of service. Federal regulations\n(49 C.F.R. § 89.21(b)(3)) require such payment to be made by wire transfer through the Federal\nReserve Communications System (Fedwire), to the account of the U.S. Treasury. Detailed\ninstructions are contained in the enclosure. Questions concerning wire transfers should be\ndirected to: Financial Operations Division (AMK-325), Federal Aviation Administration,\n6500 S MacArthur Blvd., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 79169. The Financial Operations Division\ntelephone number is (405) 954-8845.\nFailure to pay the $17,300 civil penalty will result in accrual of interest at the current annual rate\nin accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3717, 31 C.F.R. § 901.9 and 49 C.F.R. § 89.23. Pursuant to\nthose same authorities, a late penalty charge of six percent (6%) per annum will be charged if\npayment is not made within 110 days of service. Furthermore, failure to pay the civil penalty\nmay result in referral of the matter to the Attorney General for appropriate action in a district\ncourt of the United States.\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 in the Notice for violations of 49\nC.F.R. § 192.631(j). Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the transportation\nof gas or who owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to comply with the applicable\nsafety standards established under chapter 601. Pursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C.\n§ 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the following actions to\nensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations:\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2015-1007\nPage 5\n1. With respect to the violation of § 192.631(j)(1) (Item 1), Respondent must:\nA. Review the company’s procedures and add specifics as to how they will\nmaintain these records. The procedures should make reference to the forms to\nbe used (with an appropriate numbering or naming system). The procedures\nshould also specify who is responsible for completing and maintaining the\ndocumentation; and\nB. Submit Item A no later than 60 days from the issuance of the Final Order in\nthis case; and\nC. Following the acceptance of Item A, Respondent should perform the\nappropriate activities and complete the documentation to demonstrate\ncompliance with § 192.631 and forward the appropriate records to PHMSA;\nand\nD. Submit Item C no later than 180 days from the issuance of the Final Order in\nthis case.\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.\nIn addition, pursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217,\nRespondent is requested (not mandated) to take the following action:\nAmerican Midstream should maintain documentation of the safety improvement costs\nassociated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to Mr. Rodrick.\nM. Seeley, Director, Southwest Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration. It is requested that these costs be reported in two categories: 1) total\ncost associated with preparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and analyses;\nand 2) total cost associated with replacements, additions and other changes to pipeline\ninfrastructure.\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.\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.243, Respondent has a right to submit a Petition for Reconsideration of\nthis Final Order. The petition must be sent to: Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline\nSafety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC\n20590, with a copy sent to the Office of Chief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address. PHMSA\nwill accept petitions received no later than 20 days after receipt of service of this Final Order by\nthe Respondent, provided they contain a brief statement of the issue(s) and meet all other\nrequirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.243. The filing of a petition automatically stays the payment of\nany civil penalty assessed. Unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a stay, all\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2015-1007\nPage 6\nother terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\nNovember 15, 2016\n___________________________________ __________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nActing Associate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\n\n420151007_Closure Letter_01122018_text.pdf\n\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nJanuary 12, 2018\nMr. Steve Bergstrom\nExecutive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer\nAmerican Midstream Partners, LP\n1400 16th Street, Suite 310\nDenver, CO 80202\nCPF 4-2015-1007\nDear Mr. Bergstrom:\nFrom June 16, 2014 through June 23, 2014, representatives from the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA), pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code,\nconducted a Control Room Management inspection of American Midstream Partners, LP\n(AMID) in Houston, TX. As a result of the inspection AMID was issued a to Notice of Probable\nViolation (NOPV) and Proposed Compliance Order and Notice of Amendment (NOA) on April\n20, 2015, which proposed amendment of your procedures and submission of records for the\namended procedures.\nAMID submitted its amended procedures on March 15, 2017. Also, AMID submitted the\nappropriate records with respect to the amended procedures on October 3, 2017 and were in\ncompliance. My staff reviewed the documents and it appears that the inadequacies outlined in this\nNotice of Amendment 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,\nTerri J. Binns\nActing Director, Southwest Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n\n420151007_NOPV PCP PCO_04202015_text.pdf\n\nNOTICE OF PROBABLE VIOLATION\nPROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY\nand\nPROPOSED COMPLIANCE ORDER\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nApril 20, 2015\nMr. Steve Bergstrom\nExecutive Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer\nAmerican Midstream Partners LP\n1400 16th Street, Suite 310,\nDenver, CO 80202\nCPF 4-2015-1007\nDear Mr. Bergstrom:\nOn June 16 - 23, 2014, a representative of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA) pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code inspected your\nControl Room Management Program in Houston, TX.\nAs a result of the inspection, it appears that you have committed a probable violation of the\nPipeline Safety Regulations, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. The items inspected and the\nprobable violation is:\n1. §192.631 Control room management.\n(j) Compliance and deviations. An operator must maintain for review during\ninspection:\n(1) Records that demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this section\n\n\n\n§ 192.631 Control room management.\n(c) Provide adequate information. Each operator must provide its controllers with\nthe information, tools, processes and procedures necessary for the controllers to\ncarry out the roles and responsibilities the operator has defined by performing each\nof the following:\n(2) Conduct a point-to-point verification between SCADA displays and related\nfield equipment when field equipment is added or moved and when other\nchanges that affect pipeline safety are made to field equipment or SCADA\ndisplays;\n(3) Test and verify an internal communication plan to provide adequate means\nfor manual operation of the pipeline safely, at least once each calendar year, but\nat intervals not to exceed 15 months;\n(4) Test any backup SCADA systems at least once each calendar year, but at\nintervals not to exceed 15 months;\n(d) Fatigue mitigation. Each operator must implement the following methods to\nreduce the risk associated with controller fatigue that could inhibit a controller's\nability to carry out the roles and responsibilities the operator has defined:\n(3) Train controllers and supervisors to recognize the effects of fatigue;\n(e) Alarm management. Each operator using a SCADA system must have a written\nalarm management plan to provide for effective controller response to alarms. An\noperator's plan must include provisions to:\n(4) Review the alarm management plan required by this paragraph at least once\neach calendar year, but at intervals not exceeding 15 months, to determine the\neffectiveness of the plan;\nDuring the inspection of American Midstream Partners’ (American) Control Room Management\nprogram PHMSA reviewed American’s procedures and asked to see documentation to\ndemonstrate compliance with the regulations. American’s procedures specify the records\nretention will be between three to five years. American was able to provide some records for\n2011 and a few for 2014. There were no records provided for the period between 2012 and\n2013. PHMSA reviewed these records and found them insufficient to demonstrate compliance\nwith the requirements of §192.631(c), (d) and (e).\nProposed Civil Penalty\nUnder 49 United States Code, § 60122, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $200,000\nper violation per day the violation persists up to a maximum of $2,000,000 for a related series of\nviolations. For violations occurring prior to January 4, 2012, the maximum penalty may not\nexceed $100,000 per violation per day, with a maximum penalty not to exceed $1,000,000 for a\nrelated series of violations. The Compliance Officer has reviewed the circumstances and\nsupporting documentation involved in the above probable violation(s) and has recommended that\nyou be preliminarily assessed a civil penalty of $17,300.\n2\n\n\n\nResponse to this Notice\nEnclosed as part of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators\nin Compliance Proceedings. Please refer to this document and note the response options. All\nmaterial submit in response to this enforcement action may be made publicly available. If you\nbelieve that any portion of your responsive material qualifies for confidential treatment under 5\nU.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document you must provide a second copy of\nthe document with the portions you believe qualify for confidential treatment redacted and an\nexplanation of why you believe the redacted information qualifies for confidential treatment\nunder 5 U.S.C. 552(b). If you do not respond within 30 days of receipt of this Notice, this\nconstitutes a waiver of your right to contest the allegations in this Notice and authorizes the\nAssociate Administrator for Pipeline Safety to find facts as alleged in this Notice without further\nnotice to you and to issue a Final Order.\nIn your correspondence on this matter, please refer to CPF 4-2015-1007 and for each document\nyou submit, please provide a copy in electronic format whenever possible.\nSincerely,\nR. M. Seeley\nDirector, Southwest Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEnclosure: Response Options for Pipeline Operators in Compliance Proceedings\n3\n\n\n\nPROPOSED COMPLIANCE ORDER\nPursuant to 49 United States Code § 60118, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA) proposes to issue to American Midstream a Compliance Order\nincorporating the following remedial requirements to ensure the compliance of American\nMidstream with the pipeline safety regulations:\nItem 1: In regards to item Number 1 of the Notice pertaining to maintaining records for\ndemonstrating compliance with the 192.631 American Midstream must review their procedures\nand add specifics as to how they will maintain these records. The procedures should make\nreference to the forms to be used (with an appropriate numbering or naming system). The\nprocedures should also specify who is responsible for completing and maintaining the\ndocumentation.\nItem 2: These revised procedures should be forwarded to PHMSA within 60 days of the date of\nthe final order.\nItem 3: Following the acceptance of the revised procedures American Midstream should\nperform the appropriate activities and complete the documentation to demonstrate compliance\nwith 192.631 and forward the appropriate records to PHMSA.\nItem 4: The activities should be competed and the records demonstrating compliance should be\nforwarded to PHMSA with 180 days of the final order.\nItem 5: It is requested (not mandated) that American Midstream maintain documentation of the\nsafety improvement costs associated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to\nR. M. Seeley, Director, Southwest Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration. It is requested that these costs be reported in two categories: 1) total cost\nassociated with preparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and analyses, and 2) total cost\nassociated with replacements, additions and other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\n4","truncated":false,"body_characters":25262}