{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 420185011","title":"ENTERPRISE CRUDE PIPELINE LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2018-11-20","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 194.107(c)(1)(x), 195.432(b), 195.452(h)(1)(ii), 195.56(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420185011.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420185011.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-420185011","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/420185011","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving ENTERPRISE CRUDE PIPELINE LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 194.107(c)(1)(x),  195.432(b),  195.452(h)(1)(ii),  195.56(a). The case was opened on 2018-11-20 and is reported as closed as of 2019-10-03. Proposed civil penalty: $58,700. Assessed civil penalty: $58,700. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n420185011_Final Order_09162019.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420185011/420185011_Final%20Order_09162019.pdf\n\n420185011_Final Order_09162019_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420185011/420185011_Final%20Order_09162019_text.pdf\n\n420185011_NOPV PCP_11202018.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420185011/420185011_NOPV%20PCP_11202018.pdf\n\n420185011_NOPV PCP_11202018_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420185011/420185011_NOPV%20PCP_11202018_text.pdf\n\n420185011_Operator Response to Notice_02122019.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/420185011/420185011_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_02122019.pdf\n\n420185011_Final Order_09162019_text.pdf\n\nSeptember 16, 2019\nMr. A.J. Teague\nDirector and Chief Executive Officer\nEnterprise Products Partners, LP\n1100 Louisiana Street, 10th Floor\nHouston, Texas 77002\nRe: CPF No. 4-2018-5011\nDear Mr. Teague:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued to your subsidiary, Enterprise Crude Pipeline, LLC,\nin the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of violation and assesses a civil penalty of\n$58,700. The penalty payment terms are set forth in the Final Order. This enforcement action\ncloses automatically upon receipt of payment. Service of the Final Order by certified mail is\neffective upon the date of mailing, as provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Ms. Mary McDaniel, Director, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nMr. Graham W. Bacon, Executive Vice President, Operations and Engineering,\nEnterprise Products Partners, LP, 1100 Louisiana Street, 10th Floor, Houston, Texas\n77002\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 )\nEnterprise Crude Pipeline, LLC, ) CPF No. 4-2018-5011\na subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners, LP, )\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n_____________________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom January 9 through September 29, 2017, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of\nthe Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety\n(OPS), conducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and records of Enterprise\nCrude Pipeline, LLC (ECP or Respondent), in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. ECP is a\nwholly-owned subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners, LP (Enterprise), which operates\napproximately 5,300 miles of on-shore crude oil pipeline and other hazardous liquid facilities.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated November 20, 2018, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed\nCivil Penalty (Notice), which also included warnings pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205. In\naccordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that ECP had violated 49\nC.F.R. § 195.56(a) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $58,700 for the alleged violation.\nThe warning items required no further action, but warned the operator to correct the probable\nviolations or face possible future enforcement action.\nAfter requesting and receiving an extension of time to respond, Enterprise responded to the\nNotice by letter dated February 12, 2019 (Response). The company did not contest the\nallegation of violation but provided an explanation of its actions and requested that the proposed\ncivil penalty be reduced. The company also contested two of the warning items and requested\nthat the items be withdrawn. However, pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205, PHMSA does not\nadjudicate warning items. Respondent did not request a hearing and therefore has waived its\nright to one.\n1 Enterprise Products Partners, LP website, available at https://www.enterpriseproducts.com/operations/crude-oil-\npipelines-services (last accessed July 17, 2019).\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2018-5011\nPage 2\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 195, as follows:\nItem 2: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.56(a), which states:\n§ 195.56 Filing safety-related condition reports.\n(a) Each report of a safety-related condition under §195.55(a) must be\nfiled (received by OPS) within five working days (not including Saturday,\nSunday, or Federal Holidays) after the day a representative of the operator\nfirst determines that the condition exists, but not later than 10 working days\nafter the day a representative of the operator discovers the condition.\nSeparate conditions may be described in a single report if they are closely\nrelated. Reports may be transmitted by electronic mail to\nInformationResourcesManager@dot.gov, or by facsimile at (202) 366-\n7128.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 195.56(a) by failing to file safety-\nrelated condition reports with PHMSA within 5 working days, but not later than 10 working\ndays, after determining that safety-related conditions existed on its pipeline. Specifically, the\nNotice alleged that on August 3, 2015, ECP performed an integrity assessment on its Hobbs to\nMidland pipeline using a deformation and magnetic flux leakage (MFL) in-line-inspection (ILI)\ntool. On September 17, 2015, ECP received the preliminary ILI report for one segment, AID\n7363-Cowboy Station to Midland Station (AID 7363), of the pipeline. The ILI report showed\nfour anomalies on AID 7363 located within high consequence areas (HCAs) and categorized the\nfour anomalies as “immediate” conditions due to physical damage to the pipeline. The same\nday, ECP implemented a 20 percent reduction in operating pressure for the AID 7363 segment\ndue to the anomalies. Pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 195.55(a)(6), reportable safety-related conditions\ninclude those “that could lead to an imminent hazard and causes (either directly or indirectly by\nremedial action of the operator), for purposes other than abandonment, a 20 percent or more\nreduction in operating pressure.”\nThus, on September 17, 2015, ECP determined that four reportable safety-related conditions\nexisted on the AID 7363 segment. Under § 195.56(a), ECP should have filed a report(s) for the\nsafety-related conditions that resulted in a 20 percent reduction in operating pressure of its\npipeline within 5 working days, but not later than 10 working days from September 17, 2015.\nHowever, ECP never filed a safety related condition report for any of the four anomalies on the\nAID 7363 segment.\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. § 195.56(a) by failing to file safety-\nrelated condition reports with PHMSA within 5 working days, but no later than 10 working days,\nafter determining that safety-related conditions existed on its pipeline.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2018-5011\nPage 3\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.2 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; any effect that\nthe penalty may have on its ability to continue doing business; and the good faith of Respondent\nin attempting to comply with the pipeline safety regulations. In addition, I may consider the\neconomic benefit gained from the violation without any reduction because of subsequent\ndamages, and such other matters as justice may require. The Notice proposed a total civil\npenalty of $58,700 for the violation cited above.\nItem 2: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $58,700 for Respondent’s violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 195.56(a), for failing to file safety-related condition reports with PHMSA within 5 working\ndays, but not later than 10 working days, after determining that safety-related conditions existed\non its pipeline. In its Response, Enterprise argued that PHMSA should reduce the proposed civil\npenalty by finding that ECP provided a reasonable justification for its non-compliance with\n§ 195.56(a) under the good-faith assessment criterion. Respondent’s argument for such a good-\nfaith reduction is premised on the fact that, during ECP’s inspection of the Hobbs to Midland\npipeline, it also discovered other anomalies that either did not constitute safety-related conditions\nor were exempt from the requirement to report safety-related conditions. Respondent concedes\nthat the anomalies on AID 7363 were misidentified as non-reportable, but asserts that a good-\nfaith penalty reduction is warranted because ECP had regulatorily-required procedures in place\nand had followed those procedures to implement a reduction in operating pressure. As noted in\nthe Pipeline Safety Violation Report,3 a good-faith reduction for a proposed civil penalty is not a\ngauge of an operator’s system-wide approach to regulatory compliance, but instead it focuses\nsolely on efforts taken to comply with the requirements of the violated regulation. Here, the\nRespondent has not demonstrated any action taken by ECP to comply with § 195.56(a).\nRegardless of whether ECP had or generally followed compliant procedures, in this case the\ncompany failed to report four safety-related conditions discovered in HCAs. The record contains\nno justification for a reduction in the proposed civil penalty.\nAccordingly, having reviewed the record and considered the assessment criteria, I assess\nRespondent a civil penalty of $58,700 for violation of 49 C.F.R. § 195.56(a).\nPayment of the civil penalty must be made within 20 days of service. Federal regulations (49\nC.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, Mike\n2 These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. See 49 C.F.R. § 190.223; Revisions to Civil Penalty Amounts,\n83 Fed. Reg. 60732, 60744 (Nov. 27, 2018).\n3 Pipeline Safety Violation Report (Violation Report), (Nov. 20, 2018) (on file with PHMSA), at 19.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2018-5011\nPage 4\nMonroney Aeronautical Center, 6500 S MacArthur Blvd, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 79169.\nThe Financial Operations Division telephone number is (405) 954-8845.\nFailure to pay the $58,700 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.\nWARNING ITEMS\nWith respect to Items 1, 3, and 4, the Notice alleged probable violations of Parts 194 and 195 but\ndid not propose a civil penalty or compliance order for these items. Therefore, these are\nconsidered to be warning items. The warnings were for:\n49 C.F.R. § 194.107(c)(1)(x) (Item 1) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to follow\nSection 1.4 of its Oil Spill Response Plan, which required annual reviews and, if\nnecessary, revision of the plan;\n49 C.F.R. § 195.452(h)(1) (Item 3) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to notify\nPHMSA of a pressure restriction exceeding 365 days; and\n49 C.F.R. § 195.432(b) (Item 4) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to conduct\nadequate monthly inspections of two breakout tanks and failing to incorporate its\ninspection checklist into the inspection report.\nEnterprise presented information in its Response showing that ECP had taken certain actions to\naddress Item 1. Enterprise requested withdrawal of Item 3, alleging that all pressure restrictions\nwere removed within 365 days. It also requested withdrawal of Item 4, alleging that PHMSA\nmisunderstood the manner in which ECP marked its tank inspection reports. As noted above,\nunder § 190.205, PHMSA does not adjudicate warning items to determine whether a probable\nviolation occurred. If OPS finds a violation of any of these items in a subsequent inspection,\nRespondent may be subject to future enforcement action.\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.243, Respondent may submit a Petition for Reconsideration of this Final\nOrder to the Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey\nAvenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590, with a copy sent to the Office of\nChief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address, no later than 20 days after receipt of service of the\nFinal Order by Respondent. Any petition submitted must contain a brief statement of the issue(s)\nand meet all other requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.243. The filing of a petition automatically\nstays the payment of any civil penalty assessed. The other terms of the order, including any\ncorrective action, remain in effect unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a\nstay. If Respondent submits payment of the civil penalty, the Final Order becomes the final\nadministrative decision and the right to petition for reconsideration is waived.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2018-5011\nPage 5\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\nSeptember 16, 2019\n___________________________________ __________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":14602}